Clinical information systems in private hospitals

With the tremendous developments in Information Technology (IT), many organizations in private sectors use IT to transform their services and operation. Like any other sectors, the health sector has been benefited from the adoption of IT in transforming their services for society well-being. The applications of IT have greatly improved accessibility, quality and cost-effectiveness of healthcare. Clinical Information Systems (CIS) are one of the examples of the applications of IT in healthcare. CIS are computer applications that support the operations of clinicians engaged in providing care to patients. However, CIS does not always improve the outcomes and performance of the health professionals, but might bring about negative impacts on their performance and practices. Studies on medical errors have shown that errors in healthcare and medicine are not rare and may bring about severe harm to patients. This paper aims to understand the use of CIS in hospitals and their impact on patient safety. Using interviews with medical practitioners in private hospitals in Malaysia, the findings provide insights for system developers and hospital managers on the usability of CIS to ensure the delivery of better patient care since error reduction is one of the dimensions of health service quality.