A comparison of a manual and a computer system in a primary health care clinic

Previous research has shown that nurses providing primary health care in local clinics are burdened with extensive administrative duties. These administrative tasks are so time consuming that less time can be devoted to direct patient care, their primary function. Certain assertions have been made with regard to computerising the total environment of patient records, capturing statistical indicators, stock control, etc. It is said that computerising the clinic at the point of service will naturally lead to less time devoted to administrative tasks, thus increasing the time available for direct patient care. This study was done to determine whether this assertion is true. It was conducted by means of a combined quantitative and qualitative research design. The manual system and a computer system were quantitatively compared by means of various time measurements. The perceptions of patients and staff regarding computers were explored qualitatively by means of questionnaires. It was found that computerising the nurse's consulting room does not enhance the ratio between the time devoted to administrative tasks and the time devoted to patient care. In fact, the consultation time was longer with the computerised system than with the manual system. Some limiting factors in the computerisation process were discovered, the most important of which were the lack of computer literacy and typing skills of the nursing staff.