Electronic Health Records Challenges and Barriers in Iraq

Abstract

Developing countries are slow adopters of new technologies, particularly with regards to the health services of these countries. This study explores the challenges to applied EHRs system in Iraq hospital. The Technology Acceptance and Barriers of this technology in the Iraqi medical section this study is probably the one of the few studies of its kind in Iraq; there have been some limited studies of EHR early trials in some developing countries assessing the challenges of implementation. This study briefly mentions barriers EHR projects to applied in Iraq. Some challenges that would impede the implementation of EHR in an Iraqi hospital are the initial huge startup costs, poor computer skills of healthcare professionals, poor maintenance culture, and people embedding political meaning(s) into the system. The weak state of information infrastructure at the hospital would be another challenge in an EHR implementation. EHR could potentially reduce waiting times for patients, reduce the cost of the hospital‘s operations, improve interdepartmental communication and collaboration, provide opportunity for sharing best practices among physicians within Iraqi  hospitals, and enhance better resource allocation. The data an EHR could primarily capture would be patients 'demographics, care plans, laboratory results, billing and claims information.

Keyword: EHR, WHO, ICT, IT