THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS AND DETECTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Background: Epidemics are an unexpected, often sudden, increase in the incidence of a particular disease within a community or region. A pandemic occurs when an epidemic spreads throughout the world, crossing international borders and affecting large numbers of people. Epidemics and pandemics can be prevented and mitigated by predicting their occurrence well in advance, so medical records can be considered one of the tools through which an epidemic can be predicted. Aim: The main aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between electronic medical records and detection of infectious diseases. Methodology: Prospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive study was conducted to healthcare providers (n=150) who filled the questionnaire sheets among healthcare institutions, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaires were comprising two sections, Socio-demographic information and Perception of participants about role of electronic health records. Results: Most participants (76.0%) believe that the quality of EMRs has a positive effect on predicting infectious diseases, as well as A large majority (80.7%) feels that Electronic Medical Records facilitate easy access to information about the incidence and prevalence rates of infectious diseases. In addition to, majority of respondents reported easy, support information, sustainable, high quality, accessible, and updating of electronic medical records. Conclusion: the healthcare providers had a positive view on the importance and effectiveness of Electronic Medical Records in predicting infectious diseases.