Utilization of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Accessing Medical Information by Medical Professionals of Narok District Hospital

Abstract

Access to relevant information and knowledge is critical to delivery of effective healthcare services. The expansion and availability of electronic healthcare information in the recent years have given access to a wealth of resources. However there remains a gap between those who do and those who do not access to appropriate technologies to retrieve and exploit these resources. Since most of the health information and knowledge is continuously being delivered electronically, many healthcare professionals in developing Kenya are disadvantaged because of limited access to ICT.The aim of the study was to determine the adoption and use of ICT in accessing medical information atNarok District Hospital. The objectives of the includes: to; determine the current usage of ICT application in accessing medical information by medical professionals, identify the kind of information medical professionals need and how they go about seeking it, establish the factors that hinders access to information by medical professionals, identify and analyze the factors that delimits exploitation of Information Communication Technologies in accessing medical information by medical professionals, establish ways of improving access to adequate accurate medical information by medical professionals. It hopes to corne up with medical professionals at Narok District Hospital the study will be informed by diffusion of innovation theory by Rodgers (1995) that is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. The study used ca e study strategy with qualitative research design where interview and questionnaires was used to collect data as a means to investigate the utilization ofICT in accessing health information by medical information by medical professionals at Narok District Hospital. The data collected was summarized, coded and categories generated. Data was analyzed descriptively. The results of the study was that medical professionals needed information at one point in time and the sources consulted included colleagues and internet. The study found out that electronic journals are not accessed within the hospital and few of the have access to this journals and there is no hospital library. The study was meant to provide a basis for considering the actions that can be taken to overcome barriers and improve access to relevant health information and knowledge by medical professionals in Narok District Hospital. From the study there was inadequate access to information and various recommendations were suggested including: establishment of a hospital library, training on use of ICT and health care, putting policies and strategies in place, increase budget allocation to ICT and purchase of more computers and sufficient internet facility to allow free access to information and electronic journals.