@article {1206, title = {Health care consumer{\textquoteright}s perception of the {Electronic} {Medical} {Record} ({EMR}) system within a referral hospital in {Kigali}, {Rwanda}}, journal = {Rwanda Journal}, volume = {4}, year = {2017}, pages = {48{\textendash}53{\textendash}53}, abstract = {Background: Worldwide Electronic Medical Records (EMR) when compared to a paper-based system has been proven to improve service delivering numerous health care facilities. However, no research has been described in the literature regarding the user{\textquoteright}s perception of the clinical electronic medical record (EMR) system in Rwanda. The objective of this study is to evaluate the health care consumer{\textquoteright}s perception of the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) OpenClinic regarding improving the quality of health care delivery within the hospital setting. How does the OpenClinic system affect the patients{\textquoteright} waiting time? How complete is the information obtained from OpenClinic as compared to paper medical records, and the level of satisfaction of the users of OpenClinic.Method: A structured questionnaire was developed, validated and utilized in this quantitative research project. Quantitative data were collected from 170 participants while an interview guide was used to collect qualitative data from 6 key informants at a referral hospital in Kigali. The SPSS version 20.0 was used to analyze the quantitative data. The interviews transcribed verbatim; the data were thematically analyzed and categorized by pre-determined themes. Permission to conduct the study was approved from the ethics committee of the University of Rwanda, College of Health Sciences and the hospital.Results: The majority of the participants were satisfied with OpenClinic, (90\%), while only a few (10\%) did not perceive any advantage of a computer-based EMR and preferred paper based records.Conclusion: Openclinc EMR was seen to be an improvement in the data collection involving health care delivery in Kigali, Rwanda.Keywords: Electronic Medical Records, OpenClinic and Perceptions}, keywords = {Electronic medical records, OpenClinic and Perceptions}, issn = {2305-2678}, doi = {10.4314/rj.v4i1.7F}, url = {https://www.ajol.info/index.php/rj/article/view/156412}, author = {Uwambaye, Peace and Njunwa, Kato and Nuhu, Assouman and Kumurenzi, Anne and Isyagi, Moses and Murererehe, Julienne and Ngarambe, Donart} }