Health Professionals' Attitudes and Factors Influencing the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records: A Multicenter Cross-sectional Study in Ethiopia, 2023

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> <bold>Background: </bold>Electronic medical record systems are increasingly incorporated into the healthcare systems of developing countries. Despite the high expectations and interest in adopting and using electronic medical record in Ethiopia, its overall adoption rate is low. Therefore, this study aims to assess attitude and associated factors towards implementation of electronic medical record among health professionals in Ethiopian, 2023<bold>.</bold> <bold>Methods: </bold>Multicenter cross-sectional study design was conducted. Systematic random sampling technique was used to select a total of 397 samples. Data was entered to Epi data 4.6 and analyzed by SPSS version 25. A binary logistic regression was performed, and variables with p-values &lt;0.25 were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression. A p-value of &lt;0.05 and adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval was used to declare the associated factors. <bold>Result:</bold> In this study, favorable attitude towards implementation of electronic medical record system was 184 (48.2%). Age 29 years (AOR: 3.05; 95% CI: 1.58, 5.9), computer literacy (AOR: 2.66; 95% CI: 1.16-6.09), training on the EMR system (AOR: 2.87; 95% CI: 1.80-4.56)) and health professionals’ knowledge on EMR (AOR: 1.8; 95% CI: 1.10-2.96) were significantly associated with attitude. <bold>Conclusion: </bold>In this study, the attitude towards the implementation of electronic medical record is relatively low. Age, computer literacy, knowledge, and training access to EMR were factors significantly associated with the attitude towards electronic medical record system. Therefore, I would recommend the hospitals and ministry of health to enhance health professionals ‘attitude by improving their computer literacy and knowledge on EMR to scale up EMR use.