Designing an electronic filing system for Lubaga Hospital

Abstract

This research study was carried out at Lubaga hospital to investigate the causes of the high rate increase in volume of records in the hospital‟s Records and Information centre. Lubaga hospital one of the oldest hospitals in Uganda, It is the second oldest hospital in the country and has offered health care to millions of people during its long history of 100 years of existence. The objectives of the study were: i) to identify the records kept in Lubaga Hospital through conducting a records inventory. ii) to find out how filing is done and the challenges faced while filing and retrieving records at Lubaga Hospital. iii). to examine the requirements needed to design an electronic filing system for Lubaga Hospital. iv). to design an electronic filing system and also generate metadata for different files in Lubaga Hospital. A qualitative research approach used for the study and a purposive sampling technique was used to collect data and information from the different subgroups of the organisation categorised on departmental level. Interview and observation methods were used to collect data. The study aimed at designing an electronic filing system for Lubaga Hospital. The current system of record keeping at Lubaga Hospital was still manual-based; records are entered into books and paper files and then later stored in overcrowded storage rooms which make retrieval of records close to impossible. The study also found out that in the process of executing its main purposes, Lubaga Hospital has seen its volume of records growing at a fast rate. This has led to the organisation's increased expenditure on records management, records covering up large office spaces, premature loss and destruction of records generally not meeting the national records management policy. The study identified challenges of classification and filing of active records at the Lubaga Hospital Central Registry as misfiling, limited filing equipment, duplication of files, under staffing, unprofessional workers. The study recommended provision of adequate filing equipment, closing duplicated files, digitization, training of records staff, establishing an effective and clear classification scheme, establishing classification and filing procedure and guidelines, workshops and seminars. Provision of adequate filing equipment; the researcher observed that the central registry used filing cabinets which cannot accommodate all the current and semi current records. Some files were piled on floor which exposes the records to excessive amounts of light leading to deterioration. Thus, they should be provided with standardized shelving cabinets of sufficient size and number especially to the security registry, thus each subject file shall have its own cabinet and this will ease quick access and retrieval of files on demand and will solve placing on files on the floor and reducing on risks encountered on files. Digitization of records; the registry staff should carry out digitization of records to reduce on the volume of paper records and also to save time retrieving and delivering files from one office to another because it's easy to retrieve records by use of databases, electronic filing system ensures easy tracking by use of audit trail, increase the level of security on confidential records because it enables limited access and more so it will save and create more space within the registry where large volumes of files were heaped on the floor. The study therefore proposed designing an electronic filing system for Lubaga Hospital that will improve the overall utilization of information resources, control the growth of records volume, enforce the consistent implementation of record keeping policies, improve ability to locate and retrieve records when required.