INFLUENCE OF HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM (HIS) ON SERVICE DELIVERY IN PUBLIC HEALTH FACILITIES IN KENYA: A CASE OF IMENTI NORTH SUB-COUNTY, MERU COUNTY
Janerita Ruguru Mwaniki - Master of Arts in Project Planning and Management, University of Nairobi, Kenya
Dr. Mercy M. Mugambi - University of Nairobi, Kenya
ABSTRACT
Kenyan healthcare system can be categorized into three in relation to where the funding for the facilities is acquired. Public hospitals are mainly funded by the Government of Kenya with minimal input from copay by the patients. Previous experience in these facilities revealed a slow pace of service delivery in public hospitals which was not witnessed in other categories of the hospital. A delay in offering services, frequent disputes between management and staff in relation to delayed payment of dues, inadequate working equipment and poor working environment formed part of disruptions of service delivery. These disruptions were not witnessed in private facilities as their operations were smoother and the process from admission to discharge had very minimal disruptions. This prompted the researcher to investigate what might be the reasons behind slow service delivery in public hospitals. Despite government efforts of bringing quality medical services closer to the people through devolution, the level of public health service delivery is still wanting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of HIS on service delivery in government health centers in Kenya: a case of Imenti North sub-county, Meru County. Specifically, the study sought to determine the influence of record keeping systems, disease management systems, financial management systems and human resource management systems on service delivery in public medical health facilities in Imenti north sub-county. A descriptive survey research design was used. This research has employed stratified random sampling where a sample of 206 respondents was selected. The target population was 445 staff in the 25 health facilities in Imenti North Sub-County and these included medical and dental doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and laboratory technologists. A questionnaire was employed to collect data from the hospital staff. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean score and standard deviation with aid of SPSS version 22.0. The qualitative data from the open-ended questions was analyzed using conceptual content analysis and presented in prose form. Multiple regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. The data was presented using tables. This study found that there is a great influence brought about by record keeping systems on health service delivery in Imenti North sub-county. Under this, the study revealed that disease management systems greatly influence health service delivery. Concerning financial management systems, the study found that they greatly influenced health service delivery in Imenti North sub-county. Human resource management systems factors were found to greatly influence health service delivery. The study also concluded that record keeping systems, disease management systems, financial management systems and human resource management systems greatly and positively influences health service delivery. This study recommends the following; that patients’ health records to be made available to health providers to aid in timely interventions, health personnel to be provided with continuous trainings in technology to keep up with new technological advances.
