A Framework to Assess the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Patient Records Management in Healthcare: A Case of Windhoek Central Hospital

The Namibian healthcare has invested significantly in the use of ICT for healthcare, which includes automated Patient Records Management (PRM). However, Namibia's Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) has not conducted an impact assessment of the investment in electronic PRM as no Namibia-specific impact assessment frameworks exists for this purpose. This makes it difficult to justify such an investment in the healthcare sector. The aim of this research is to design a framework to assess the impact of information and communication technologies on PRM in the Namibian healthcare sector using the Windhoek Central Hospital as a case study. For this research the modes of data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Sen's capability framework, Rural ICT comprehensive evaluation framework (RICT-CEF), e-Governance framework, Assessment of ICT pilots projects and An extended framework for investigating ICT impact towards development were identified, whose assessment criteria feed into the questions to assess the impact of ICT on PRM. The core of the framework which is the result of this research consists of four elements which are the effectiveness of the PRM system, the value of using ICT in the PRM, internal and external factors that influence the use of ICT in PRM.