  This study aimed at identifying the issue, challenges and opportunities from
the health consumers in Tanzania towards interoperability of electronic health
records. Recognizing that we conducted a study to identify the challenges,
issues and opportunities towards health information exchange. The study was
conducted in three major cities of Tanzania. This was in order to come up with
a clear picture of how to implement some EHRs that will be trusted by health
consumers. The participants (n=240) were surveyed on computer usage, EHRs
knowledge, demographics, security and privacy issues. A total of 200 surveys
were completed and returned (83.3% response rate). 67.5% were women, 62.6% had
not heard of EHRs, 73% highly concerned about privacy and security of their
information. 75% believed that introduction of various security mechanisms will
make EHRs more secure. A number of chi-square tests (p<0.05) showed there was a
strong relationship among the variable of age, computer use, EHRs knowledge and
concerns for privacy and security. The study showed that there was a small
difference of 8.5% between those who think EHRs are safer than paper records
and those who think otherwise. The general observation of the study was that in
order to make EHRs successful, then the issue of security, and health consumer
involvement were two key towards the road of successful EHRs in our hospitals
practices and that will make consumers more willing to allow their records to
be shared.
