Introduction:
The information gathered in hospitals for clinical services is massive and management of this dispersed information is very complicated, however, necessary for medical centers. Considering the computer capabilities, clinical information systems are very useful and efficient in achieving the management goals in medical centers. This study was conducted for evaluating different applications of clinical information systems and staff awareness of Medical Records Department.
Methods:
This study was conducted in two-steps: In the first step, the available resources during 2000-2011 were studied. In the second step, awareness of clinical information systems among Medical Record Department's staff of Tehran University of Medical Sciences hospitals has been evaluated. The validity of the questions raised in questionnaire was confirmed by the expert panel and its reliability was determined to be 80% by test-retest coefficient. The collected data was analyzed using MS Excel 2007 software.
Results:
The clinical information system consists of different parts and a variety of applications including: clinical documentation, making decision, management of medicine, radiology, laboratory, etc. There are barriers such as financial, behavioral and technical issues to employ these systems. The results obtained from the second part showed that the average of staff awareness of clinical information systems was 49%.
Conclusion:
Considering the numerous benefits of clinical information systems, using it for supplying information on clinical centers is an inevitable necessity. Selecting a proper system, training users, and paying attention to the factors affecting their implementation in hospitals play a key role in its clinical effectiveness and widespread use of clinical information systems.