Relationship between Hospital Governance and Health Records Management: A Study of the Shai-Osudoku and Kumawu Districts Hospitals.

Abstract

Health systems are built mainly upon specified building blocks. As effective as they individually are, these building blocks function together to provide the best of healthcare services in the world. Health leadership/governance and health information system (records) are some of the strongest components of the building blocks. The relationship that exists between these two building blocks helps in the management decision making towards the attainment of organizational goals. This study examined the relationship between hospital governance and health records management in public hospitals in Ghana using the Shai-Osudoku and Kumawu Districts hospitals as case study. The main purpose of the study was to find out how the effective and efficient management of the hospitals‟ records can facilitate their governance obligations, which include but not limited to accountability, transparency and information security. The combination of the Stakeholders‟ and Records Continuum Theories were adopted for the study. The study obtained data from 64 respondents by the use of structured questionnaires, with the use of personal observation to back up data obtained. In analyzing the data, multiple linear regression was performed to establish the relationship between hospital governance and records management. Results from the linear regression with a confidence level of 95% (P-value < 0.05) revealed a significant (0.003) relationship between hospital governance and records management. Furthermore, all predictors used under hospital governance (accountability, transparency and information security) had positive (R2 (11%, 10% & 20%) respectively) and significant (p-values (0.030, 0.039 & 0.003) respectively) relationships with records management and predictors of records management (records management policy, staffing, records control and access, records retrieval, records preservation and records retention and disposition) had positive relationships with hospital governance except staffing. The study revealed the important role of well managed hospital records in providing capacity for hospitals‟ efficiency, accountability, transparency, information security and good governance. For an effective and efficient hospital governance, major health agencies (MoH, GHS etc.) must endeavor to create strong records management policies that will gear towards good governance in the health sectors.