Medical Records Management in Public Hospitals

Abstract

Medical records management activities do not differ from managing other types of records but what differs is the content and value of the records. Policies and procedures may differ from one medical center to another but they aim at the same thing which is proper management of records and bring emciency and effectiveness to the work. This research was concerned with management of medical records in public hospitals. The case study was carried at KCMC — Moshi. The problem of the study was to Investigate the how medical records were created, used, stored appraised and the challenges faced by the records staffwhen they were managing those records. The techniques used to get the sample from the population was the purposive sampling which enabled the researcher to get the staff who were able to answer the questionnaires and interview questions from the small number of medical records staff. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires, interview questions and documentation. The study found that there was no policy and procedures meant for medical records department for managing the records. The policy could lead to the preparing of management programmes such as retention scheduling, appraisal, disposition and disaster plan which would be used to prevent records from natural disaster such as storms, floods, earthquake and fire. The disaster plan would also state how records would be rescued from these hazards. The study found that there was no enough space for active records so the records were congested. The conclusion and recommendations were to advice the KCMC top management to support the registry by building or providing a building which would be capable for handling the records. The staffs need to be trained in records management courses at the degree, diploma and certificate levels to enable them to manage the records according to the standards.