Impact of electronic medical records on healthcare delivery in Nigeria: A review

Abstract

Electronic medical records (EMRs) have great potential to improve healthcare processes and outcomes. They are increasingly available in Nigeria, as in many developing countries. The impact of their introduction has not been well studied. We sought to synthesize the evidence from primary studies of the effect of EMRs on data quality, patient-relevant outcomes and patient satisfaction. We identified and examined five original research articles published up to May 2023 in the following medical literature databases: PUBMED/Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, African Journals Online and Google Scholar. Four studies examined the influence of the introduction of or improvements in the EMR on data collection and documentation. The pooled percentage difference in data quality after introducing or improving the EMR was 142% (95% CI: 82% to 203%, p-value < 0.001). There was limited heterogeneity in the estimates (I2 = 0%, p-heterogeneity = 0.93) and no evidence suggestive of publication bias. The 5th study assessed patient satisfaction with pharmacy services following the introduction of the EMR but neither had a comparison group nor assessed patient satisfaction before EMR was introduced. We conclude that the introduction of EMR in Nigerian healthcare facilities meaningfully increased the quality of the data.