The federal government has called for adequate and quality service from health records officers in the country in order to improve the availability of healthcare to Nigerians.
The minister of state for health, Dr Osagie Ehanire made the call when he visited the headquarters of the Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria in Abuja.
He urged the board to work on its members saying the medical records department is the first that a patient goes to in a hospital, and the attitude of the personnel there could discourage or encourage the patient to access care in the hospital.
He added that damage to the image of hospitals can start from the health records department and once controlled can reduce the negative perception people have of public hospitals, and also discourage people from going to private hospitals abroad for treatment.
Ehanire said the electronic health records system is progressing well in many hospitals in the country adding that it is fast, easy and less prone to corruption and mismanagement. While promising that government will address challenges facing the board , he also urged the board not to rush in to training courses that government and the country is not ready to handle now.
Registrar of the board, Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim Mami said hospitals and clinics in the country are still far from getting maximum impact of the board because they recruit untrained persons to man health records departments.
He said less than 20 % of the personnel of health records departments of the federal government’s health facilities are qualified and licensed to practice health records management, adding that there are few trained health records managers to meet the needs and expertise necessary for efficient health records management.
He lamented that the country’s health records management cannot attract meaningful international and regional recognized practice if it does not measure up to standardized heath information system.
Mami urged the minister to give a directive that institutions and persons engaging in electronic health records system should meet certain standards before being employed or going into operation.
The registrar also called on the minister to develop a memo to the National Council of Health seeking to compel every health facility in the country to engage trained and licensed health information managers to manage it records department.
By: Kuni Tyessi
Leadership News
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