HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM DATA UTILIZATION IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING IN HOSPITALS: SYSTEMIC REVIEW

Abstract

A health information system is a structured effort to systematically collect, store, and share data essential to the effectiveness of a health system, encompassing various health-related functionalities. Gathering, organizing, and analyzing data is crucial to identify the health needs of a population, providing hospital management with insights to allocate resources effectively across the health workforce, essential medications, governance, and service provision. However, although hospitals typically rely on their staff to handle data, these key administrative responsibilities often lack support for using data to make informed decisions, leading to poor service delivery and unnecessary patient referrals. This desktop review explored how hospital management employs the Health Information Management System for strategic decision-making and identified challenges and barriers to leveraging this data. The review sourced materials from three databases, two journal websites, and Google Scholar, using search terms like “Health Management Information System,” “Strategic management,” “Decision-making,” “health data,” and “barriers to data use.” The analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Meta-analysis and Systematic Review, resulting in 35 articles identified, with seven selected for inclusion after evaluation. Findings revealed that hospital management teams seldom use Health Management Information for decision-making, and health workers similarly underutilize this data for critical choices. Technical and organizational factors significantly hinder the use of Health Management Information for strategic decisions aimed at enhancing service delivery. To overcome these obstacles, the review suggests regular supportive supervision, training, capacity building, mentoring on basic health information skills, and improved feedback through collaboration among policymakers and stakeholders. Hospital administrators should promote a culture that values routine health information for evidence-based decisions across all areas by boosting resources, providing tools, computers, skilled staff, and automation, while offering regular refresher training to keep health personnel adept at using the system and emerging technologies. Management should prioritize the value of information and foster leadership to encourage positive attitudes toward its use. This review provides a valuable resource for informing the government about the initiative’s current status and hospital managers’ data management capabilities for relevant programs, while offering researchers ample material for deeper exploration.