Self-Assessment of the Managers and Network Operators about the Effect of Hospital Information System on the Performance and Processes of Imam Hossein Hospital in Shahroud

• The risk of inappropriate decision making would be minimized if the managers are timely provided with accurate and adequate information. Obviously, hospital information system (HIS) plays an important role in today's rapidly changing organizations. This study was performed to assess the viewpoints of managers and network operators about the effect of HIS on the performance and processes of Imam Hossein Hospital in Shahroud during 2008.• This was an applied, descriptive cross-sectional study. Since the number of users and managers was limited (142 individuals) and due to the necessity of accurate data, all subjects were studied using census method. The participants completed a questionnaire including of 27 questions (7 general and 21 professional questions). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the scientific method and its reliability was determined as 0.879 using test-retest. SPSS16 software was used to analyze the data and the results were shown as diagrams and tables.• The study population consisted of 33.1% men and 66.9% women. In addition, 64.6% of the subjects had a bachelor degree or higher. They were secretaries (9.2%), licensed practical nurses (8.5%), nurses (57.7%), headnurses and supervisors (6.9%). However, 17.7% had other jobs in operation rooms, midwifery wards, radiology, and laboratories. The average score of 71.92 (out of 100) indicated the positive attitude among the users and managers. Secretarie's attitudes scored the highest and headnurse's and supervisor's attitudes scored the lowest. There was no significant relation between attitudes average score and age, education level, sex, and number of hours worked with the network per day (P > 0.05). However, there attitudes average score and job experience were significantly related (P = 0.02).• Holding educational workshops about the use of modern information technologies in effective managemnet and presenting a feedback of the network performance with an approach on the analysis of cost-efficiency, cost- benefit and cost- effectiveness can help improve the current attitude among the users, especially managers.