The use and perceived value of electronic health information resources by health care professionals in the field of medicine, pharmacy, and nursing in Jazan province, Saudi Arabia

Background

Healthcare workers increasingly use Electronic Health Information Resources (EHIRs) to make evidence-based decisions. Our study was intended to assess the perception, attitude, and practice of healthcare professionals in medicine, pharmacy, and nursing regarding their perceived value and use of EHIRs.

Methods

We conducted an observational cross-sectional study using a pre-validated questionnaire among healthcare professionals in Jazan province from September 2022 to February 2023. We included healthcare professionals and interns with medical, pharmacy, or nursing degrees and excluded those who refused informed consent.

Results

We included fully completed data from 294 participants, with an actual response rate of just 80.1 %. Almost 87.41 % utilized the health information resources at their workplace, with UpToDate [39.45 %] and Medscape [67.01 %] being the most frequently used medical databases. The health facilities' access to electronic health resources significantly impacted healthcare professionals' [p = 0.04] and medical interns' [p = 0.02] roles. Faculty members felt the need to access electronic health information at their workplace [p = 0.00]. Lack of time to access electronic health information due to a busy schedule was a significant reason that impacted the attitude of medical professionals [p = 0.008] and nursing staff [p = 0.025]. An excessive amount of clinically unrelated data was the primary obstacle (181/294, p < 0.0001) in using electronic health information resources.

Conclusion

Our study showed the pattern of healthcare professionals using EHIRs in the Jazan province, Saudi Arabia. We believe the study's outcome can help increase the calibre of electronic health information services available to healthcare professionals and raise awareness of different EHIRs in improving clinical care.

Information transparency with immediate release: Oncology clinician and patient perceptions

INTRODUCTION

As part of the 21st Century Cures Act (April 2021), electronic health information (EHI) must be immediately released to patients. In this study, we sought to evaluate clinician and patient perceptions regarding this immediate release.

METHODS

After surveying 33 clinicians and 30 patients, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a subset of the initial sample, comprising 8 clinicians and 12 patients. Open-ended questions explored clinicians' and patients' perceptions of immediate release of EHI and how they adjusted to this change.

RESULTS

Ten themes were identified: Interpreting Results, Strategies for Patient Interaction, Patient Experiences, Communication Strategies, Provider Limitations, Provider Experiences, Health Information Interfaces, Barriers to Patient Understanding, Types of Results, and Changes due to Immediate Release. Interviews demonstrated differences in perceived patient distress and comprehension, emphasizing the impersonal nature of electronic release and necessity for therapeutic clinician-patient communication.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinicians and patients have unique insights on the role of immediate release. Understanding these perspectives will help improve communication and develop patient-centered tools (glossaries, summary pages, additional resources) to aid patient understanding of complex medical information.