Healthcare professionals’ perceptions of electronic medical record privacy and its impact on work quality in Riyadh hospitals

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

- General characteristics of the study population (N=381).

Values are presented as numbers and percentages (%).

Table 2

- Privacy in the electronic medical records within the studied healthcare settings.

Privacy in the EMR items	No	Yes	Not sure	Mean±SD
Healthcare staff are familiar with EMRs in their healthcare settings.	24 (6.3)	302 (79.3)	55 (14.4)	2.73±0.569
Patient records are protected against unauthorized access in the healthcare settings.	44 (11.5)	265 (69.6)	72 (18.9)	2.58±0.689
Healthcare settings established clear policy on EMRs privacy.	26 (6.8)	287 (75.3)	68 (17.8)	2.68±0.594
Healthcare staff access a colleague’s EMR without permission out of curiosity.	241 (63.3)	97 (25.5)	43 (11.2)	2.37±0.864

Values are presented as numbers and percentages (%) and mean ± standard deviation (SD). EMRs: electronic medical records

Table 3

- Effects of lack of privacy in electronic medical records on healthcare staff.

Lack of privacy in EMR items	Strongly disagree	Disagree	Neutral	Agree	Strongly agree	Mean±SD	P-values
Concerns regarding the lack of privacy in EMRs has impact on patient and staff confidentiality.	26 (6.8)	39 (10.2)	74 (19.4)	117 (30.7)	125 (32.8)	3.72±1.214	0.041
Healthcare staff avoids seeking medical care in their organization due to the lack of privacy in EMRs.	71 (18.6)	87 (22.8)	89 (23.4)	62 (16.3)	72 (18.9)	2.94±1.376	0.62
The lack of privacy in EMRs has increased staff personal stress levels.	31 (8.1)	88 (23.1)	112 (29.4)	101 (26.5)	49 (12.9)	3.13±1.150	0.010
Extra work is required to enhance the privacy and security of EMRs.	8 (2.1)	12 (3.1)	54 (14.2)	157 (41.2)	150 (39.4)	4.12±0.914	0.038
The lack of privacy in EMRs influences the behavior of the staff toward me in a negative way.	34 (8.9)	87 (22.8)	172 (45.1)	50 (13.1)	38 (10.0)	2.92±1.055	0.75

Values are presented as numbers and percentages (%) and mean ± standard deviation (SD). EMRs: electronic medical records

Table 4

- Perceptions of privacy and lack of privacy across participants’ characteristics.

Variables	Privacy and EMRs			Effects of lack of privacy in EMRs on the healthcare staff
Variables	n (%)	Mean±SD	P-values	n (%)	Mean±SD	P-values
Type of organization
Private	48 (12.6)	2.52±0.284	0.829	48 (12.6)	3.12±0.817	0.160
Public	333 (87.6)	2.53±0.327	0.829	333 (87.6)	3.30±0.820	0.160
Age (years)
23-34	167 (43.8)	2.50±0.358	0.392	167 (43.8)	3.41±0.844	0.005
35-44	149 (39.1)	2.54±0.307		149 (39.1)	3.24±0.781
45-54	56 (14.7)	2.60±0.238		56 (14.7)	3.06±0.786
55-64	8 (2.1)	2.52±0.301		8 (2.1)	2.85±0.687
65 or older	1 (0.3)	2.60		1 (0.3)	1.66
Years of experience
1-5	122 (32.0)	2.50±0.362	0.024	122 (32.0)	3.46±0.810	0.011
6-10	75 (19.7)	2.47±0.328		75 (19.7)	3.2±0.775
More than 10	184 (48.3)	2.58±0.284		184 (48.3)	3.17±0.829
Education
Diploma	35 (9.2)	2.57±0.303	0.900	35 (9.2)	3.31±0.751	0.006
Bachelor’s	229 (60.1)	2.53±0.329		229 (60.1)	3.26±0.862
Master’s	78 (20.5)	2.51±0.328		78 (20.5)	3.51±0.706
PhD	33 (8.6)	2.54±0.285		33 (8.6)	2.84±0.713
Residency	4 (1.0)	2.45±0.341		4 (1.0)	3.21±0.737
Other	2 (0.6)	2.70±0.424		2 (0.6)	3.00±0.471