Preparedness of Medical Records Department Staff in Undertaking New Roles of Health Information Management and Its Relationship with the Motivational and Inhibitory Factors of Participation in Continuing Educational Courses

Prior to offer and implementation of new jobs, the readiness of staff for fulfilling these jobs and the factors affecting on their readiness should be investigated. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the readiness of staff working in the medical records department, in undertaking new roles of health information management and the motivational and inhibitory factors of their participation in the continuing educational courses. This was an applied research study. The study population composed of 40 graduates in the field of “medical records” working in the hospitals affiliated to the social security organization in Tehran. Due to the limited number of participants, no sampling method was used in this study. Data were collected using Likert scale questionnaire. To confirm the validity of the questionnaire, experts’ views were investigated and the reliability of the questionnaire was also confirmed using the test-retest method (r = 0.945). Descriptive and inferential statistics, such as Spearman’s rho (rs) and t-test, were used to analyze the data. The results showed that there was a significant relationship between the participants’ awareness of new jobs in health information management (HIM) and their age, work experience and graduation year. Moreover, there was an inverse significant relationship between the awareness of new jobs in the field of health information management and the motivational factors for attending in the continuing educational courses. No significant relationship was found between the awareness and inhibitory factors for participating in the continuing educational courses. It is important to offer necessary training courses to increase the level of awareness and improve staff skills before offering new jobs to them. Staff participation in the training courses will be facilitated if motivational factors are identified and inhibitory factors are controlled.