Evaluating and modelling the adoption of various health information technology (HIT) data standards. A case study of some selected hospitals
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Date
DECEMBER, 2018
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Abstract
The adoption of health information technology applications can yield real benefits for
nations in terms of aspects such as increased delivery of care based on guidelines,
enhanced monitoring and surveillance activities, a reduction in medication errors,
decreased rates of potentially redundant or inappropriate care, and reductions in the cost of
medical services. However, to what extent is health information technology adopted in
Ghana. This study thus evaluated the adoption of various health information technology
related standards at the decision- making stage of hospitals in Ashanti Region. The
research design for the study was cross sectional, with quantitative research approach. The
population of the study comprises the staff who used health information technology in the
selected hospitals. In all, 260 respondents were sampled from 10 hospitals using purposive
sampling technique. The study concludes that, the three main factors (Standard factors,
Organisational factors, and Environmental factors) significantly influenced the adoption
process of health information technology related data standards in Ghanaian healthcare
institutions. Standard factors such as observability of information that is available
regarding health data standards, systems integration with existing IT infrastructure, relative
advantage of a particular IT standard, and the complexity of using a particular IT standard,
greatly influenced hospital’s adoption of a health information technology. Organisational
factors such as the type of healthcare organisation (whether private, public, quasi or
missionary), availability of data analysis experts, resistance to change, and the size of
healthcare organization also influenced the adoption of health information technology.
Finally, environmental factors like the existence of national healthcare system policy by
government, and availability of professionals to operationalize a standard also influenced
hospital’s adoption of a health information technology. It was receommned that, health
information technology service providers must make room for the potential clients (like
hospitals) to try out the system on a smaller scale, to judge its effectiveness before
purchasing it. Hospitals aiming at adopting health information technology should ensure to
effectively communicate with their staff on the benefits of the new system, and training
them adequately to operate the new systems, as these will help reduce the chance of change
resistance.
Description
A thesis submitted to the College of Science, Department of Computer Science, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a degree of Master of Science in Health Informatics
Keywords
HIT, Data standards, Hospitals