IMPACT OF I.T ON HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT  .

This study examines the impact of information technology on health care system in Nigeria. An electronic health record is a record in digital format that is capable of being shared across different health care settings, by being embedded in network-connected enterprise-wide information systems. Such records may include a whole range of data in comprehensive or summary form, including demographics, medical history, medication and allergies, immunization status, laboratory test results, radiology images, vital signs, personal stats like age and weight, and billing information. Its purpose can be understood as a complete record of patient encounters that allows the automation and streamlining of the workflow in health care settings and increases safety through evidence-based decision support, quality management, and outcomes reporting

With many writers decrying how patients queue up for hours in order to receive medical treatment, and some end-up being attended to as ‘spillover’, the analyst investigated the manual system in detail with a view to finding out the need to automate the system.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            Background of the Study

Health is generally said to be wealth.  It takes healthy people to generate the wealth the nation requires for the general well being of its people.  There is therefore the need for adequate Medicare especially in the area of diagnosis and treatment of diseases.  Since there is a good relationship between the job output and health of the workers, a good Medicare is vital.

Unfortunately, in most developing nation (including Nigeria), this adequate Medicare is lacking due to how standard of technological know-how and manual handling of most medical problems.  As observed by Lyiama H.C. and D.C. Chukwu, “very often, people in developing countries who are critically ill are rushed abroad for special treatment because it is felt that Medicare facilities at home are inadequate.   This is partly because computer – aided Medicare has become a reality in many developed countries”.  It is also a known fact that the production of qualified medical doctors and other medical personnel and consultants in on the increase, but his is not enough to meet the health needs of the increasing population.  The ratio of patients to a doctor is still high.

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This situation creates problems, because proper and adequate medical attention of patients is far fetched.  Nowadays, the low-income class is mostly affected.  Doctors hurry over their duties in order to attend to all the patients.  At the end of the day, they are tired and over worked.

Considering the rate of population growth the medical care and facilities available, and the health needs of the people, computer-aided Medicare is in evitable for more accurate.  Furthermore with the present shift to an information society, it is necessary to anticipate the future use of a sophisticated electronic machine the computer.  This is necessary because the computer is rapidly finding its way into every field of human endeavour, including medicine.  Its application includes patient care and protection, clinical administration, intensive monitoring during emergencies, surgical operations, diagnosis and automation of medical records.  For instance, during a complex surgical operation as exemplified by Iyiama and Chukwu, “the computer monitors person being operated on, revealing all vital sings (pulse, blood pressure, breathing rate, etc) of interest to the doctors in the theatre, thus helping them to be more accurate and effective in what they are doing.  Such a patient monitoring system can be with a video Display Unit (VDU), a keyboard for interactive inputs and an alarm”.

The wide rang of the use of computer is due to its versatility as a data processing machine and its ability to do things including complicated tasks faster, better and more accurately than human beings would.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

It has been observed that to receive medical treatment in most of our hospitals, the patients queue up for several hours from one unit of the hospital to another starting from obtaining a new hospital folder, or retrieving an old one before consulting a doctor, to the laboratory unit for lab test then to the pharmacy to get the prescribed drugs and so on.  With the manual processes involved in handling the patient most of them waste the whole day in the hospital.  Very often, patients leave their homes very early in the morning in order to be among the first group to see the doctor.  Otherwise, they may end up wasting the whole day without due attention.

This situation is discouraging to most patients and sometimes forces them to turn to non-professionals or even resort to self-medication for quick recovery.

Moreover, the volume of work for the hospital personnel is much.  Patients out number the doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, that too much are required from them.  In this regard, to examine all his patients for the day the doctor hurries over his work without adequate attention and expertise to his clients.  Still, at the end of the day he is exhausted.

In addition to this, the diagnosis and prescription depend on the doctor’s memory and drug of choice.    Their brains are often loaded with different diseases, signs and symptoms, complications and various drugs for their treatment and so on.  Some of which are very similar.  To remember and process these huge information in his clinical work is very tasking.  For this reason accurate diagnosis and prescription may not always be obtained.

The keeping and retrieval of accurate records on patients are poorly carried out in most of our hospitals.  Files may be misplaced; the record in them may be wrongly filled.  Hence, it is not easy to obtain accurate and timely information or data.

This is also the case with obtaining other medical information and data especially when new folders and numbers are obtained each year.

Finally, the keeping of folder for each patient manually takes a lot of time and money and some of the information are redundant.  All these have net effect of loss of lives and inefficiency on the part of management.

1.3     Objectives of the Study

This study is centered on the following objectives.

1. To examine the current procedures employed in our hospitals with regards to patients admission, diagnosis and treatment.
2. To examine the associated problem(s) or flaws in the current system.
3. To improve on the already existing system by designing an efficient patient health care system.

1.4    Scope of the Study

This research work is limited to patient’s admission information system including treatments, bills and payments. The software developed will be carried out using Visual Basic to manage the database.

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