Healthcare practitioners’ attitudes towards electronic appointment and referral system (Mawid) in Riyadh: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Healthcare settings have rapidly adopted electronic systems such as health records (EHR), health information systems (HISs), and electronic appointment and referral systems. Despite the positive impact of electronic systems usage in clinical practice, its implementation has issues such as resistance by healthcare providers. The primary aim of this study was to identify Riyadh’s primary healthcare practitioners’ (PHCPs) attitudes towards and satisfaction with electronic appointment and referral system (Mawid). This study is a descriptive qualitative phenomenological study that used inductive thematic data analysis. Open-ended semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from a purposive sample of 10 PHCPs. Seven key themes emerged from the research study: a positive response, workload and workflow disruption, training issues, technical problems, system usability, lack of management support and incentives, and lack of organisational readiness. The research suggests that PHCPs have positive attitudes towards the Mawid system. However, this study also revealed issues that affect PHCPs’ attitudes towards the system. The study suggests the use of a user-centred approach, which may help address the issues that affect PHCPs’ attitudes towards this system.