Background: Health information is a system that entails collecting, reporting and using in order to assist the health professionals for better decision making. In case the health records are not maintained properly it affects the patient’s healthcare. Therefore, this study was to investigate the factors affecting the utilization of health information in case of Jimma University specialized hospital. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study design was employed with both the quantitative and qualitative data collection methodology. The sample size was selected using simple random sampling technique. Quantitative data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0, while qualitative data was transcribed, categorized into themes for easy interpretation and analysis. Results: A total of 167 health professionals were participated with the response rate of 87%. The experience ranged between 6-10 years (50%) and the JU hospital has engaged only 40% of health professionals as fulltime employees and hence there were lack of records / reports about the health information. Most of them are not satisfied on the current status of health information and also they are not motivated properly. Conclusions: The research found that most of the respondents are not happy with the existing health information. Utilization of health information is low and it is attributed to the system quality by the health professionals. The factors that are to be reinforced like lack of confidence, motivational factors, health professionals engagement levels, lack of resources and consensus between seniors and user departments. It is recommended to have more resources with more openings and periodic training.

Keywords: Health information; Jimma University; WHO; Health care professionals.