Health Information Management

Introduction:

Health Information Management Department is generally responsible for Registration, Documentation of cases into the Hospital Services and also serve as the custodian of Patient’s records, Documentation and Registration of Patients (24hrs Service) Sorting. The department is the first and last point of call in the hospital for all patients visiting the health institution for the very first time and any subsequent visit as an out-patients. Other responsibilities include the maintenance of death and birth registers for the perusal of relevant government agencies, and keeping track of communicable diseases, according to government regulations.

The major functions of a Health Information Management department are as follows:

  • Admission procedure, including patient identification and the development and maintenance of the master patient name index.
  • Discharge procedure and completion of Health records after an inpatient has Been discharged or died.
  • Coding/Indexing of diseases and operations of patients discharged.
  • Filing of patient health records in the Library.
  • Evaluation of the medical record service.
  • Compilation of monthly, Quarterly and annual statistics of in-patient and out-patient in the hospital.
  • Medico-legal issues relating to the release of patient information and other legal matters.

Therefore, Health information managers (HIM) organize, oversee, and protect patient health information data which includes symptoms, diagnoses, medical histories, test results, and procedures. Also, the department responsibilities is not limited to documentation but also deals with the collection of health care data at all levels of different specialist clinics/clinics within the hospital and compilation of statistic for administrative use and medical research.

The core objectives of Health Information Management Department is to educate and prepare professionals with knowledge needed to ensure accessibility, accuracy, availability, integrity, and security of patient health information by initiating the process and managed the patient’s Health Information/health records from out-patient to the point of discharge.

The department of Health Information Management was created in the year 1998 along with others clinical departments under the leadership of Mrs Abimbola Eniola Afolabi  has the Pioneer Head of department    with other (5) five Health Information Management professional working with her at the inception.

However, the department has grown significantly under the year review with over One hundred and ten members of staff working in the department which comprises of Professional and non-professional.

The following are the demography details of the members of staff in the department:

Health Information Management officer                                        16
Health information Management Technician31
Administrative Staff71
Total Members of Staff118

The department is categorised under the following units for effective and smooth running of the activities of the department:

  • General out-patients department (GOPD) Records Unit.
  • Consultative Clinical out-Patient (COPD) Records Unit
  • Obstetrics and Gyneacology (O &G) Records Unit
  • National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) Records unit
  • Admission and Discharges (A&D) Records Unit
  • Health Records Library