Driving patient's records management process on the healthcare service delivery using records life cycle as a tunnel towards quality patients care

摘要

It cannot be overemphasised that healthcare institutions are mandated to ensure that health records are properly filed, archived, stored, disposed and retrievable using appropriate system as required by legislation, and that appropriate security measures are in place to ensure secured health records in the healthcare workflow and storages. The study was partially extracted from the author's PhD research dissertation completed in 2016, to investigate a typical framework for management of patients records on the healthcare service delivery practice following the records life cycle for quality patients care. This multimethod study used stratified random sampling method to collect quantitative data using questionnaire. Sample was drawn from records management officials in 40 hospitals of Limpopo Province in South Africa. The statistical data in questionnaire was supported with a triangulation of data from observation and document/system analysis to clarify statistical information. The study discovered that medical records were not properly managed at different stages of the records life cycle during healthcare service workflow. The study recommended a strategic framework that may be adopted by the healthcare institutions to improve manageability of their medical information, with an electronic record tracking system for file content management and records movement tracking. This will assist healthcare institutions in taking care of the file content completeness in case they maintain creation of information contained in paper-based records. They will also able to track the location of each file while also keeping track record of the file usage (audit trail) for user accountability.