Investigation of Clinical Information System in Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Centers: Challenges and Solutions

Today, medical research centers are recognized as the bases for development of high-quality medical knowledge in societies. In this regard, application of clinical iinformation system (CIS) facilitates the achieving of this goal. This study aimed to investigate the challenges and solutions of CIS in the gastrointestinal and liver diseases (GILD) research centers. This descriptive-fundamental research was conducted on gastrointestinal and liver diseases academic research centers of Tehran. Research sample was in line with the community, and the data were collected through interviews and using a questionnaire. In addition, validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed via content validity and test-retest, respectively. The results of the study showed that gastrointestinal and liver diseases research centers contained various service-providing sections, including endoscopy, colonoscopy and liver, gastrointestinal and inflammatory bowel diseases, and cancer and each of which had a separated and independent software with no connections to other software and HIS. Moreover, the software had no warning mechanism to track the patients for referral in due time. This mechanism was important since lack of timely referral of the patients could complicate the treatment process and reduce the general health level of the patients. It seems that the designers of CIS must consider the essential and acceptable standards and frameworks in designing and improving this system.