ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS AND HEALTHCARE QUALITY IN NIGERIA: A NARRATIVE REVIEW OF BENEFITS, CHALLENGES, AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Abstract

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have become central to contemporary healthcare
reform because they improve the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of patient information. In
Nigeria, where healthcare delivery is frequently constrained by weak infrastructure, fragmented
records, limited workforce capacity, and uneven data quality, EHRs offer significant opportunities
for improving clinical decision-making, patient safety, care coordination, and health system
planning. This paper adopts a narrative review method to examine the role of EHRs in improving
healthcare quality in Nigeria. Although relevant scholarly literature and policy-oriented sources on
EHR adoption, digital health, health information systems, and healthcare quality were reviewed and
thematically synthesized. The review shows that EHRs can enhance healthcare quality by
improving access to patient records, reducing documentation errors, supporting continuity of care,
strengthening health data management, and enabling evidence-informed policy decisions.
However, the effective adoption of EHRs in Nigeria remains limited by inadequate digital
infrastructure, high implementation costs, poor interoperability, insufficient training, data security
concerns, and resistance to technological change among healthcare workers. Using the socio-
technical approach as its theoretical lens, the paper argues that successful EHR implementation
requires more than technological investment; it also demands attention to users, institutions,
workflows, policy frameworks, and organizational culture. The paper concludes that EHRs can
significantly improve healthcare quality in Nigeria if implementation is supported by sustainable
funding, workforce training, interoperability standards, cybersecurity safeguards, and context-
sensitive digital health policies.