Information Needs Study on Electronic Health Records of Diabetic Patients from Nephrologist's Perspective

Determining the information needs of stakeholders, including dialytic patients is of great importance in designing a better electronic health record at the national level.. In this study various information needs on Electronic Health Records of dialytic patients from nephrologists’ viewpoints were investigated. In his descriptive cross sectional study, research population included 25 nephrologists who were working in dialysis centers in Tehran. A seven part questionnaire including (demographic information, public, diagnosis, treatment, history, status and others related to the types of information needs on electronic records of dialytic patients was used. Sample population rated essential items from one to ten. Data analysis was done with SPSS by taking the mean rating given to each case. In ranking, the highest means reported, were first names and family names in medical documentaion (9.2), blood groups and number of medical documentation (9.5), test and test results (9.7), type of dialysis (9.8), history of abdominal surgery and transplantation (9.6), cause of kidney failure (6.9) recommendations after discharge and clinical alerts (8.4) and the lowest average belonged to marital status (6.4), electronic signature (7.5), radiology results (9), date of installing catheter (8.8), family history (8.4), congenital anomalies (8.4) and financial report (6.8) In designing electronic health records of dialytic patients documentation number, blood group, test and test results, type of dialysis, history of surgery and transplantation, cause of kidney failure, discharge recommendations and clinical alerts need to be prioritised. Producing electronic health records for dialytic patients based on the stakeholders’ needs is highly important, therefore it is necessary that essential measures be adopted in this area.