ATTITUDES OF HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND USERS OF HEALTH SERVICES TOWARD USING COMPUTERS IN PRIMARY HEALTH CENTRE OF BREŽICE

Abstract

Background. The number of Slovenian physicians in primary health care who have been using personal computers and electronic medical records in surgeries is increasing. Because of legal regulation in which standardpaper medical record are obligatory, using of computers have prolonged the consultation time consequently. On the other hand, contemporary computing technology brings numerous advantages both to health professionals or to users of health services.Methods. In the cross-sectional study made among the health professionals employed in the Primary Health Centre of Brežice and random chosen visitors in three outpatients’ departments of the same Health Centre, author tried to assess a satisfaction level of both interviewed groups after a ten years’ period of using electronic medical record. The attitudes were assessed by a 5-item questionnaire and 5-point Likert scale.Results. Analysis of attitudes indicated statistically significant differences in answers on four of five questions, between health professionals and users of health services. The differences in attitudes between subgroups of physicians and nurses were not significantly different in any of questions. Differences were tested for significance by a Z test having proportions (p < 0.05).Conclusions. Results of the study proved that there are significant differences between the health professionals and users of health services regarding the use/usage of computers in primary care. Further studies with larger samples and more questions are needed in Slovenia so that attitudes and opinions of both relevant groups can be determined.

Keywords

• electronic record
• satisfaction
• quality
• health services