Abstract:
Electronic Health Records were created for service delivery in health institutions. They have the advantage
over paper-based patient records in that, they are easy to use, retrieve information and have unlimited
storage as well solve the problem of storage faced in the paper-based record system. As indicated in most
studies, EHRs come with own challenges. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to investigate, the
effectiveness of Smart Care Electronic Management System for improved service delivery in Lusaka.
This was a case study of selected Government health facilities, in Lusaka District. The specific objectives
of the study were; to find out if Smartcare Electronic Management System is delivering its intended
purpose at the selected health care facilities in Lusaka; to determine whether the introduction of Smartcare
Electronic Management System has helped to reduce on the number of medical errors at these health care
facilities; to determine the effectiveness of Smartcare Electronic Management System on management of
records at the selected health care facilities and to establish the challenges faced in using Smartcare
Electronic Management System at the selected health care facilities.
The study used both quantitative and qualitative method to collect and analyses data. 300 respondents
were picked and using simple random sampling and 1 key-informant from each health centre using
purposive sampling. The major findings revealed that EHRs are faster to use than paper-based records
and saves filing space. Findings also showed that most respondents indicated that EHRs are cost effective
in terms of time in that less time is spent by staff to access records and no time is wasted in queues to
retrieve records compared to the paper-based. Findings also showed that most of respondents pointed out
that the major medical problem reduced was that of loss of patient records and repeating of diagnostic
tests. The major challenge pointed was that of electricity power outages which resulted in none usage of
the system and it was recommended that back-up measures should be put in place such as procuring power
generators. Finally, there is need too for other researchers to consider finding out whether all other
institutions use EHRs as the selected health centres do and establish if the benefits and challenges are the
same
