Adoption of Health Management Information System (HMIS) among ESIC Healthcare Professionals in Southern Districts of Tamil Nadu: An Integrated Model

Abstract

It has been emphasised that a Health Management Information System (HMIS) will improve the ability to
collect, store and analyse accurate health data, service delivery efficiency and effectiveness of intervention.
Theobjective of the system is to record information on health events and check the quality of services
at different levels of healthcare. The successful implementation of Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) and health programmes requires complex balancing of the competing views and concerns
of the different stakeholders. Some clinicians will view new technology with suspicion, fearing its challenge
to their professional autonomy and status. Patients will often seize on the potential benefits but will also
hold legitimate concerns about the security and confidentiality of any electronically held patient data. IT
specialists may seek to use cutting edge technology in the respective environments where existing tried and
tested technology would be more than adequate to deliver real improvements in patient care.The adoption
of the health management information system among Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC)
healthcare professionals and important issues related to system usage, including the implementation and
current use of the HMIS at ESIC main hospital and dispensaries in Tirunelveli sub-region were examined
by using a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).Information and data were collected from 171 ESIC
healthcare professionals in three southern districts (Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari) in Tamil Nadu.
An analysis provided enough evidence for the proposition that integration of ICT with the health care
professional – patient relationship adequately addressed the service efficiency.