Solutions to Overcome Technical and Social Barriers to Electronic Health Records Implementation in Saudi Public and Private Hospitals

Abstract

Background: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one of the countries facing several barriers for implementing electronic health records (EHR) in public and private hospitals. Such barriers can be social, technical, managerial, financial, organizational or even political [1]. Previous studies identified a number of such barriers in Saudi hospitals. This study aims at identifying solutions to overcome both technical and social barriers hindering EHR implementation in the Saudi public and private hospitals. Research Design: A quantitative questionnaire was designed and used to collect data from six public and private hospitals in Jeddah city, where 30 questionnaires were distributed among staff of each hospital. Results: A total of 114 (76%) completed surveys were received, while only 84 (56%) were considered for the purpose of this study, and 30 were excluded due to unreliability. Conclusion: The solutions, concluded by this study, offer solutions to overcome the technical and social barriers hindering EHR implementation in KSA. Lack of knowledge and experience in using EHR systems is considered the most important barrier of all. Solutions to overcome such a barrier were suggested, which can also help in overcoming other EHR barriers in Saudi hospitals. Moreover, further considerations and investigations are required to overcome other barriers to facilitate a complete and successful implementation of EHR to assist in improving the healthcare service delivery process.

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