Effects of real-time electronic data entry on HIV programme data quality in Lusaka, Zambia.

Setting: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) clinics in five hospitals and five health centres in Lusaka, Zambia, which transitioned from daily entry of paper-based data records to an electronic medical record (EMR) system by dedicated data staff (Electronic-Last) to direct real-time data entry into the EMR by frontline health workers (Electronic-First).

Objective: To compare completeness and accuracy of key HIV-related variables before and after transition of data entry from Electronic-Last to Electronic-First.

Design: Comparative cross-sectional study using existing secondary data.