Assessing the effect of data utilization on organizational decision making in Lubaga hospital

Abstract

Comprehensive and reliable information is the foundation of decision making across all health system building blocks and is essential for health system policy development and implementation, governance and regulation, research, human resources development, health education and training, service delivery and financing. Data driven decision making involves the use of data to guide the process of decision making which involved planning, budgeting, organizational learning as well as follow up of the organizational performance. This concept has been related to improved efficiency, effectiveness, accountability and meeting external demands for competitiveness by an organization, despite all this, information/data has not been used by stakeholders to effectively inform policy and in making strategic decisions, this has hindered their ability to respond to priority needs and explore valuable improvement opportunities. This study was therefore carried out to assess the effects of data utilization on organizational decision making in Lubaga hospital. A cross sectional survey design was employed for the study and a purposive sampling technique was used to identify potential participants in the survey. A total of 165 participants completed the self-administered questionnaires. A correlation analysis technique was used to determine the relationship between data utilization variables and decision making variables. The results indicated that only data management practices (p < .001) influenced financial allocations decisions while collection processes (p < .134) and feedback mechanisms (p < .094) did not. Access to data influenced staffing allocations decisions through access different forms of reports i.e. HMIS (p < .001), hospital annual report (p < 001), health sector performance report ( p < 001), surveillance reports ( p < 001), national health survey ( p < 001), and census reports (p < 001). Data sharing influenced organizational learning through periodic data sharing i.e. weekly access (p < 001), monthly access (p < 001), quarterly access ( p < 001), bi-annual and annual access at (p < 001). In conclusion, the study identified a limited utilization of data in decision making with a 38.7% utilization in staffing decision and 35.1% utilization in organizational learning. Data utilization was however highest in financial allocations at 77.34%. The study recommended hospital managers to continuously build capacity among their teams in making evidence based financial decisions. Improved data accessibility in friendly formats based on user requirements to encourage easy access for data when required to make decisions, develop skills of knowledge acquisition, sharing and modification to reflect new knowledge and insights which can add value to the organization.