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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
computer science
An e-health decision support system for improving compliance of health workers to the maternity care protocols in South Africa
Applied Clinical Informatics, Volume 4, No. 1, Year 2013
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Description
Background: There are problems of quality in maternity services at primary health care level in South Africa. Many of these problems can be traced to non-adherence to the maternity care guidelines and lack of tools to support clinic staff and managers in their roles. Objective: The aim of this research was to investigate the utility of e-health (computerized) decision support systems at addressing the problem of compliance of health workers to the maternity care guidelines at primary health care in South Africa. At present there are no documented studies on e-health clinical decision support systems for primary health care in South Africa, though clinical decision support systems for primary health care are listed as part of the e-health strategy of the National Department of Health. Methods: An e-health decision support system named the Bacis (Basic Antenatal Care Information System) Program was developed, then implemented and evaluated at a primary health care clinic. The duration of the study was two years: this includes development, implementation and evaluation. Results and Conclusion: There was an overall improvement in compliance from 85.1 % to 89.3%. This result was not statistically significant. However when results were stratified into specific categories, the Bacis Program showed statistically significant improvement in compliance over the checklist system in three out of nine important categories. These are compliance at booking, patients younger than 18 years and patients booking after week 20. Further, insights and experience were also gained on development and implementation of clinical information systems at resource strained environments such as primary health care in South Africa. These results, insights and experience are invaluable for the implementation of the proposed e-health strategy in South Africa. © Schattauer 2013.
Authors & Co-Authors
Horner, V.
South Africa, Tygerberg
South African Medical Research Council
South Africa, Sovenga
University of Limpopo
Rautenbach, Petrus
South Africa, Sovenga
University of Limpopo
Mbananga, Nolwazi
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand
Mashamba, Tshililo J.
South Africa, Sovenga
University of Limpopo
Kwinda, H.
South Africa
Elim Hospital
Statistics
Citations: 27
Authors: 5
Affiliations: 4
Identifiers
Doi:
10.4338/ACI-2012-10-RA-0044
e-ISSN:
18690327
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Maternal And Child Health
Study Locations
South Africa