The Effects of Information and Communication Technology on Health Service Delivery at Tafo Government Hospital

Kennedy Addo,Pabbi Kwaku Agyepong

doi:10.4236/etsn.2020.93003

Abstract

This study sought to find out the effects of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on health service delivery at Tafo Government Hospital. A descriptive survey design was used. Data were collected through the use of semi-structured questionnaire and administered to 50 respondents where stratified random sampling technique was used by ranking position as strata. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. From the findings, 56% of the respondents overwhelmingly agreed to the fact that the applications of ICT provide quicker medical diagnoses, reduced workload among users, improvement in patients’ waiting time and information accessibility. Nonetheless, 72% bemoaned lack of ICT infrastructure, poor ICT network concerns coupled with that insufficient knowledge on the use of ICT could impede the impact of ICT in quality service delivery. This could be deduced from the findings that ICT improves collaboration and clinical decision support in facilitating clinical work flow integration among nurses and other medical professionals. Moreover, the findings above affirm the fact that without electricity, ICT infrastructure, insufficient skills and technical knowledge in dealing with ICT innovations, it is impossible to successfully adopt ICT resources in health care delivery. The above findings show that the majority of healthcare professional generally had a positive attitude towards ICT prospects as they rated their skill as fairly well. The study recommends that the Ministry of Health plays a supporting role by investing in health care ICT.

Highlights

72% bemoaned lack of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure, poor ICT network concerns coupled with that insufficient knowledge on the use of ICT could impede the impact of ICT in quality service delivery
The findings reveal that majority of the respondents is in agreement of the fact that ICT support their work
The findings revealed that the IT infrastructure in most Ghanaian hospitals are woefully inadequate to contain the fully functionality of ICT systems

Summary

Introduction

ICT resources have improved level of patients’ safety and outcome [2] the use of sophisticated equipment has improved the aspect of progressively updating the patients about their medical status [3]. Through the application of ICT resources in the healthcare sectors, hospitals have been able to reduce their operational and other associated costs [4]. In the developed countries the phenomenon of ageing population is evident with predictions of 60% hikes in the overall costs targeted at such group of people. The application of ICT in health care helps address the deficit of physicians in both developing and advanced countries. ICT has potential if properly deployed to lower costs of health care, while opening up new modalities for patient treatment and welfare [5]

Objectives

Results

Discussion

Conclusion