Abstract

Introduction: To have an optimal hospital information system, the performance indicators used for evaluation need to be identified. Knowing that the quality of performance indicators is an important issue in benchmarking a system, this study investigated key indicators for benchmarking the performance of hospital information system including structural, process and results indicators. Method: This is a descriptive qualitative research. The research population consisted of experts working in Information Technology and data processing units at Social Security Hospitals in Tehran Province. The present study was conducted in two stages using interview and focused group discussion. Using snowball method, purposeful sampling was done in the first stage of this research and the subjects were interviewed. In the second stage, the participants helped classify and confirm the main themes and subcategories obtained from the first stage. Findings: In the first stage, 9 main themes and 121 subthemes or key indicators obtained for benchmarking of hospital information system. In the second stage, the results were organized and classified in terms of structure, process, and results through focused group discussion. Conclusion: The results of this research can be used as a basis for improvement of quality in the evaluation process of Hospital Information Systems. In other words, improving quality and productivity requires planning to improve HIS key indicators.