Preparedness for Use of Health Information for Planning and Decision Making: A Study of Health Facilities in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

Background: Providing the right quality information system promotes effective and efficient ways of using scarce resources through proper planning and decision-making. This however depends on availability of infrastructure and adequate staff training on use of health information.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among health facilities in the Kumasi metropolis and data was collected from June to September 2011. The study involved 323 health staffs, recruited from among1162 health workers from public, private, quasi and mission health facilities and the Metro Health Directorate in four of the ten sub-metros across the Kumasi metropolis. Data was analysed with STATA 11 software. Results: More than 50% had received training on HI among all the facilities. Comparatively, training on HIS was lower in the public hospitals. Training on HI and relevance the training had significant associations with the use of HI (p<0.001). Respondents who had never had training on HI were less likely to use HI for planning and decision-making as compared to those who had ever had training (OR=0.086; 95% CI=0.03, 0.25). Although most facilities had available logistics for storage, processing and using health information, not all were functioning. Challenges associated with use of HI included inaccurate data, low knowledge on IT, unreliable information, inconsistent data, improper documentation and power cut offs. Conclusion: Use of health information remains critical to making evidenced based decision-making. Improving health training and the requisite logistics could improve use of HI among health staffs.

Keywords: health information, planning, Kumasi metropolis, training, logistics, preparedness