Impact of health management information systems on service delivery among healthcare workers at Iten County Referral Hospital

Background: Decision-making process and effective planning within the health sector relies majorly on availability of reliable, accurate and prompt information. Most referral healthcare facilities in Kenya utilize health management information systems (HMIS) yet delivery of effective services remains relatively challenging. Against this backdrop, we assessed the impact of use of HMIS on service delivery among healthcare workers at Iten County Referral Hospital (ICRH).Methods: This study used a cross-sectional study design target population was all healthcare workers at ICRH. Closed and open-ended questionnaires were used to obtain data. Purposive and stratified sampling techniques were used to select study site and participants respectively. The sample size was 185 healthcare workers but 142 participants filled out the questionnaire.Results: Most respondents were nurses (37.4%). Least cohort were pharmacists (1.40%). About 62.7% were diploma-holders, 26.8% had a bachelor’s degree. Further, 66.9% of participants had <10 years working experience, 22.5% had 11-20 years while; 10.6% had 21-30 years. Participants (26.1-47.2%) agreed that using HMIS is efficient and effective for managing hospital data. Majority were undecided whether HMIS can be used for managing financial imperatives and providing epidemiological data. Participants (77.5%) rated HMIS as being user-friendly. Remarkably, 22.5% rated the HMIS as suitable for use as a centralized planning system for the hospital. Data also showed that HMIS is yet to be fully integrated into the hospital system.Conclusions: The use of HMIS has positively impacted service-delivery at ICRH. We therefore recommend that healthcare facilities integrate the use of HMIS in management of hospital data.