Developing a Patient-Hospital Communication System to address a growing Public Health Concern at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital

Communication systems in the Ghana health care system remains a public health challenge. The issue of the nearest hospital, type of services available, availability of physicians, availability of beds in referring hospitals and a reminder system among others remains a daunting challenge for patients and providers of the health service. In other settings, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) have been used to efficiently manage communication in healthcare settings (among users and staff at all levels). This present study sought to review the existing healthcare communication structures, (mediums, perspectives and challenges) among patients, staff and management members at the KomfoAnokye Teaching Hospital. A cross-sectional study with a mixed method approach was used in this study. A multilevel sampling method was used to select 304 patients, 303 health workers and 45 Hospital Directorate Managers to participate in the study. A structured questionnaire was used concurrently with an interview guide to collect data from respondents. Quantitative data was captured electronically using Open Data Kit and was analyzed using STATA version 12. Qualitative data was recorded using a tape recorder supported by field notes. This was transcribed and analyzed thematically. The study found that patients and Health providers had a general understanding of what hospital communication meant and the structures available. Majority (72.6%) of the patients made a direct communication to the hospitals of which 13.2% were booking of appointment. Among the health workers (62.0%) of them communicates with management in daily base of which such communication were mainly official. They however mainly communicates casually or informally with their colleques. Less than half (34.3%) of the staff respondents were satisfied with the current communication between staff and management. More than half of the management respondents agreed that there existed internal communication in the hospital. Majority (59.9%) of management’s respondents shared the view that the current communication system was not an effective system and had little room for feedback mechanisms. Staff communicated mainly (64.4%), through meetings and face to face (89.8%) respectively among management and colleague staff respectively. Staff communicated to patients predominantly (97.4%) through face to face medium. Majority (83.50%) of the staff interviewed agreed that challenges existed in the current hospital communication system. The need for a digital communication platform was cited by 75.6% of patients and 93.1% of staff respondents. Currently, no system exists to offer prior information to patients who intend to assess the referral facility. Also, no official system exists for digital appointments and other means of patient-staff interaction outside the hospital environment. It was observed that hospital staff used social media for communicating among themselves but meeting were held to communicate with the hospital management. Management of the hospital communicated with the general public using letters and office memos. Concerns such as dissatisfaction with delayed information flow and little feedback were expressed by managers and staff of the hospital respectively. All the various groups studied welcomed the prospect of a digital mobile application system to offer efficient communication within and outside the hospital. Although some challenges were anticipated as the digital app is expected to offer a superior alternative to the current communication system in the hospital.

Source: KNUST