A Questionnaire-based Study on Awareness and Knowledge of 'Medical Records' among Interns in a Tertiary care Hospital in Northern Karnataka

Abstract

In the near past, doctors are considered God by the patients but, in this era, Doctors are threatened by patients by increasing trends of complaints & litigations against doctors. The doctors should have optimum knowledge in delivering safe health care in an unbiased medical education set up. Medical record plays a vital role in all  

standardized way. Hence it is necessary to evaluate awareness and knowledge of 'Medical Records among budding Doctors. The present study was conducted to assess the awareness and knowledge of Medical Records among the Interns. This was a questionnaire based study carried out at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, KAHER. A predesigned self-structured multiple-choice questionnaire containing 20 questions was framed based on awareness and knowledge and was prepared in Google forms and sent to 123 Interns who were posted in various departments after obtaining informed consent. The results obtained in the study showed that the interns had enough awareness and knowledge about medical records and their purpose but they lagged in knowledge in maintaining MLC records and also lagged in awareness of charges for getting photocopies of medical records. Overall awareness and knowledge of medical records among our interns are better compared to peers but need to be enhanced to promote knowledge of electronic health data and their importance in their future practice.