This study focuses on records management in support of service delivery in the public health sector of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study sought to investigate whether the current records-keeping practices support or undermine service delivery and the e-health readiness level. Mixed methods were used for the survey. Questionnaires, observation and interviews were used to collect data. Purposive sampling method was used to identify interview participants and stratified random sampling for questionnaire participants. The total population of the study was 324 from which 210 participants were sampled. The response rate was 77% (162). The study discovered that records management negatively affected timely and effective health care services. This resulted in long patient waiting times and patients being treated without their medical history records. The study recommended the introduction of an electronic records management system capable of capturing and providing access to a full patient record and tracking paper record movement. / Information Science

Magister Commercii (Information Management) - MCom(IM) / Health information systems (HIS) have much to offer in managing healthcare costs and in improving the quality of care for patients. However, the adoption of HIS can cause problems to health professionals in terms of efficiency as well as to the entire health organization in terms of acceptability and adaptability. The development of a national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy in Zambia was initiated in 2001 through an extensive consultation process which involved academics and civil society organizations. The aim of using ICT is to improve the quality of health service delivery at local levels. Maramba and Mahatma Gandhi Clinics are the largest primary health care (PHC) clinics in Livingstone and have been prioritized for the implementation of an electronic medical record (EMR) system. The current study explored health care workers' perceptions and experiences of the use of ICTbased EMR and factors that could determine acceptability of EMR at Maramba and Mahatma Gandhi clinics to feed into future program improvement.

Within the field of medical informatics, patient medical records are the sole source of information for dealing with clinical activities concerning the documentation, care, progression, and ongoing interactions between the patient and clinicians. Electronic or computer-based patient records (CPRs) have had a presence within health care in some form and magnitude for the past thirty years yet only recently have been incorporated in health care to a larger extent. Due to the wide variation of professions in health care, there is a problem of CPRs not being able to fulfill all the possibilities and demands the individual professionals need, since many CPRs are designed as a generic system, to be used across multiple professions. The focus of this report is on the utilization of a generic CPR in a specialist clinical setting, i.e., a physical therapy clinic, and to analyze how the therapists utilize the different components and features in a generic CPR. The purpose of the evaluation was to investigate how viable the CPR was as a documentation tool and to which extent it supported the therapists in their clinical, documentation and delivery of care activities. In this study, a total of seven physical therapists participated in a post-usage evaluation of an existing CPR. The evaluation was achieved by interpretative research with open-ended interviews and observations. The results of the study showed that despite some shortcomings, the generic CPR was an effective tool for the clinicians, not only as a documenting aid, but also enabling them to quickly research the patients' prior diagnosis and treatment history, plan for future care, support decision-making and to communicate with other professionals so as to coordinate treatment and planning.

A Personal Health Record (PHR) is an electronic record of a patient’s health-related information that is managed by the patient. The patient can give access to other parties, such as healthcare providers and family members, as they see fit. These parties can use the information in emergency situations, in order to help improve the patient’s healthcare. PHRs have an important role to play in ensuring that a patient’s complete health history is available to his healthcare providers at the point of care. This is especially true in South Africa, where the majority of healthcare organizations still rely on paper-based methods of record-keeping. Research indicates that physicians play an important role in encouraging the adoption of PHRs amongst patients. Whilst various studies have focused on the perceptions of South African citizens towards PHRs, to date no research has focused on the perceptions of South African physicians. Considering the importance of physicians in encouraging the adoption of PHRs, the problem being addressed by this research project thus relates to the lack of information relating to the perceptions of South African physicians of PHRs. Physicians with private practices at private hospitals in Port Elizabeth, South Africa were surveyed in order to determine their perceptions towards PHRs. Results indicate perceptions regarding benefits to the physician and the patient, as well as concerns to the physician and the patient. The levels of trust in various potential PHR providers and the potential uses of a PHR for the physician were also explored. The results of the survey were compared with the results of relevant international literature in order to describe the perceptions of physicians towards PHRs.

The transfer of copies of vital event records into a government archives repository is necessary not only to ensure their ongoing preservation, but also to provide access and accessibility to them for all researchers in an appropriate setting. At present all vital event records gatekeepers in Canada, except two, do not have in place a system providing for such regular transferral. The central reason for this lack of process is the assumption that vital event records are somehow different in kind, and not just in type, from other public records that contain personal information. This thesis evaluates that assumption through an analysis of the history of vital statistics legislation and a comparative study of the privacy regime of that legislation with the legislative regime of access to information and privacy. Having done these two studies, the thesis then recommends a way in which legal transfer from the gatekeepers to the repository can be achieved. That recommendation is, first, that all discussion regarding access must be accomplished before their acquisition. Secondly, their acquisition and accessibility must be based upon the expiration of time—limits. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

This thesis attempts to identify the reasons why business archives have not been widely developed in North America and to suggest the changes which are necessary to correct the situation. Although this study addresses itself specifically to the experience of business archives, many of the issues it discusses can easily be related to other forms of corporate archives such as those, for example, of a municipality, university, labour union, or hospital. All corporate archives confront the common problem that the practical value of an archival programme must be clearly demonstrated. This usually involves justification based primarily on administrative rather than cultural criteria. Therefore, this study aims overall to place business archives within a broader discussion of the purposes which archives ought to serve in our community. The underlying theme of this thesis is the need to formulate a more comprehensive view of the role of archives than has been evident in the past, one which is sufficiently flexible to respond to the changing and diverse requirements of modern society. This requires that the archivist accept a broader role than he accepted in the past, when he often served as a passive custodian patiently awaiting the arrival of "retired" documents. An analysis of the development of business archives illustrates that a strictly historical criterion for maintaining records has met with only limited success in the corporate community. Rather than attempting to convince businessmen as to the cultural benefits (important as they are) to be derived from the establishment of an archival programme, it might be more prudent to emphasize new potential services which could be rendered to the sponsoring agencies. In exploring this proposition the thesis first considers the elements influencing the historical growth of business archives and then suggests potential new areas into which corporate archivists might move. The study also discusses the ramifications of these changes for issues such as appraisal and access and, finally, identifies those factors which will be particularly important in determining the future success of business archives. In assuming such a broad approach to the study of corporate archives, the thesis raises some fundamental questions about the orientation of the archival profession and, as such, may contribute to the formulation of archival theory. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

This thesis begins by tracing the development of the practice of records scheduling in the federal governments of United States and Canada, from the initial concern with records disposal in the late eighteen hundreds, to the implementation of formal records schedules in the 1940s in the United States and the late 1950s in Canada. These federal initiatives provided a model for later developments at the state and provincial level. However, changes in scheduling methods have lately become necessary to meet the demands of the increasing volume of records, organizational complexity and change, and the widespread use of new media, particularly electronic records. Many of these changes have occurred at the provincial and state level, where the limited size of government has allowed the agencies responsible for scheduling to be more responsive and innovative. For this reason, analysis of current records scheduling practices in the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, and the states of Washington and New York were conducted. These studies reveal schedules which are both flexible in their use and adaptable over time because they attempt to accommodate both records in all media and organizational change. Among the scheduling techniques examined are the addition of media specific elements, the use of functional schedule arrangement, the integration of schedules with other management tools, like classification, and the expanded use of general schedules for records common to more than one organization. These techniques are capable of dealing with the volume, complexity and variety of records which are being created in government today. Despite the changes demonstrated, the studies show that records scheduling remains a viable practice to control the life cycle of all records, from creation until disposal. Throughout this investigation, the role of archivists is discussed. Archivists' involvement in scheduling began with the earliest developments and continues still today. Archivists have been central to the initiation, development and adaptation of records scheduling in government. With the development of new information technologies, archivists' role is even more important, for they must intervene into the process of records creation if they want to maintain the ability to identify records of enduring value to society, and to ensure that their integrity is maintained throughout administrative procedures and use. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

This thesis is aimed at individual entrepreneurship. It focuses on administrative demands the individual entrepreneur has to encounter when keeping tax record and accounting. Part of this thesis is also the historical development of legislation in this field. Basic obligatory records of entrepreneur towards financial authorities, social security administration and a health insurance company at the beginning and also during enterprise are summarized within the thesis. The main emphasis of this thesis is placed on the contents of keeping tax record and accounting. Comparison of these systems regarding the impact on the personal income tax is not a subject of this thesis. The empirical part of this thesis illustrates a tax record keeping of an actual entrepreneur.

The purpose of this study was to critically analyse the evidence-based revelations from the South African Office of the Auditor-General on the records management challenges being encountered in the local government sector. The aim of the study was the analysis of available evidence and the proposal of solutions for collaborative planning and implementation. The lack of strategic planning in ensuring the accessibility of authentic information sources required during auditing remains unchallenged by the South African public archivists and records managers. These audit reports are required to demonstrate governance, transparency and accountability. This information held in the records of local government is also required to satisfy service delivery and plan development ventures. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations formulated an ambitious agenda to eradicate world poverty by 2025. Eight millennium development goals were identified that would provide impoverished communities with better access to basic services and conditions spurring sustainable development. Governance-based criteria were identified as barometers to gauge transparency, accountability, respect for the rule of law and citizens’ rights. Consolidated audited reports from 2000 to 2013 were scrutinised to unravel the conundrums relating to governance, transparency and the management of public sector information sources. According to the 2013 report, only 5% of the local government sector managed to attain clean audits. Related evidence revealed in the unclean audit reports and media narratives related to service delivery and community protests. The approach used for the study was the qualitative methodology, regarded as an appropriate method for the archival discipline. This research method allowed for the incorporation of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary fields of interest. The case study method design enabled the focus of the study to be on local governments and six selected community development ventures in different areas of South Africa. The latter method enabled information collection from records officials and persons involved with socio-economic development projects. Sound interventions are needed to ensure evidence-based governance. This, in turn, would create favourable conditions for development endeavours in post-apartheid South Africa. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

The purpose of this study was to critically analyse the evidence-based revelations from the South African Office of the Auditor-General on the records management challenges being encountered in the local government sector. The aim of the study was the analysis of available evidence and the proposal of solutions for collaborative planning and implementation. The lack of strategic planning in ensuring the accessibility of authentic information sources required during auditing remains unchallenged by the South African public archivists and records managers. These audit reports are required to demonstrate governance, transparency and accountability. This information held in the records of local government is also required to satisfy service delivery and plan development ventures. The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and United Nations formulated an ambitious agenda to eradicate world poverty by 2025. Eight millennium development goals were identified that would provide impoverished communities with better access to basic services and conditions spurring sustainable development. Governance-based criteria were identified as barometers to gauge transparency, accountability, respect for the rule of law and citizens’ rights. Consolidated audited reports from 2000 to 2013 were scrutinised to unravel the conundrums relating to governance, transparency and the management of public sector information sources. According to the 2013 report, only 5% of the local government sector managed to attain clean audits. Related evidence revealed in the unclean audit reports and media narratives related to service delivery and community protests. The approach used for the study was the qualitative methodology, regarded as an appropriate method for the archival discipline. This research method allowed for the incorporation of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary fields of interest. The case study method design enabled the focus of the study to be on local governments and six selected community development ventures in different areas of South Africa. The latter method enabled information collection from records officials and persons involved with socio-economic development projects. Sound interventions are needed to ensure evidence-based governance. This, in turn, would create favourable conditions for development endeavours in post-apartheid South Africa. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)