Developing a Framework for Electronic Health Record of Students: A Case Study of West Azerbaijan Province Schools

Background- In order to obtain information on the health status of students and a healthy community, having access to health information is critical. Most health information systems designed for adults have data recording limitations for children. The presents study develops the Electronic Health Record of students.Method- The present study is a descriptive - cross sectional study performed in 2015 in primary schools in West Azerbaijan Province. The research tools included the questionnaire and checklist completed 25 school health educators and 5 school health volunteers of health networks. The data elements were presented to the school health educators and three pediatricians. The content validity was determined and its reliability index was measured by Cronbach's alpha test with SPSS version 22.Results- Students’ Personal Health Record is a booklet called “Health Certificate†that includes 100% of the demographic information, screening data and students’ immunization but it lacked sequence and integrity required to obtain the health information. The school care data and the results of initial admission were documented in none of the schools. Due to low security and privacy of paper information, the reports were unreliable. According to the minor role of the school health educators in the process of documentation of health information, data recording process was reviewed. The revised data elements were approved by 100% without any opposite opinion.Conclusion- Low security and confidentiality of students’ health information indicates the need to create electronic systems. Designing electronic health records can be a major step in creating a database with the ability to communicate and exchange electronic health records.