The recent adoption of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) across hospitals nationwide by the Federal Government (FG) has been commended by the Health Information Managers’ Association of Nigeria (HIMAN).
This was part of the Communique issued after the association’s public lecture and the inaugural meeting of its Board of Trustees (BoT) held at Town Planning Hall, Ibadan South West Local Government, MKO Way (formerly Ring Road), Ibadan.
The association described the initiative as a crucial step towards modernizing Nigeria’s healthcare delivery system and called for uniform EMR implementation and infrastructure support, stressing the urgent need for enhanced operational efficiency in hospitals.
At the meeting which had Mr. Wole Ajayi, the BoT Chairman presiding, the association highlighted that seamless collaboration among healthcare professionals and data-driven decision-making are vital for improving patients’ care outcomes.
As part of the demand on the EMR implementation, the association urged the Federal and State Governments, through their Ministries of Health and relevant agencies to invest significantly in EMR infrastructure and establish standardized guidelines to ensure consistency and interoperability and prioritize the provision of reliable and continuous power supply to support EMR systems, thereby safeguarding patient data integrity and ensuring uninterrupted healthcare delivery.
HIMAN noted the danger of manpower shortage in the health care sector, especially that of Health Information Managers, frowning at what it described as widespread reliance on locum (temporary) staff which it said “has serious implications for patient safety, staff morale and institutional reputation.
“Locum professionals often face job insecurity and lack access to benefits such as pensions, which discourages long-term commitment and exacerbates the brain drain phenomenon in Nigeria’s health sector”, the association added.
It appealed to the Federal and State Governments to adopt a comprehensive human resource strategy that encompasses transparent recruitment and retention policies, robust staff support systems, adequate incentives aligned with global best practices and measures to curb the “Japa Syndrome” among healthcare workers.
The association which expressed gratitude to the guest speaker, Dr Ralph Akangbe from Lagos State Ministry of Health for his stimulating lecture titled “Digital Transformation and Change Management in Health Information Management” promised that the next in the series of the public lecture would be held in Akwa-Ibom State later in the year.
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