Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorCline, Gregoryen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorLuiz, Johnen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-27T09:31:17Z
dc.date.available2015-11-27T09:31:17Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND:The public healthcare sector in developing countries faces many challenges including weak healthcare systems and under-resourced facilities that deliver poor outcomes relative to total healthcare expenditure. Global references demonstrate that information technology has the ability to assist in this regard through the automation of processes, thus reducing the inefficiencies of manually driven processes and lowering transaction costs. This study examines the impact of hospital information systems implementation on service delivery, user adoption and organisational culture within two hospital settings in South Africa. METHODS: Ninety-four interviews with doctors, nurses and hospital administrators were conducted in two public sector tertiary healthcare facilities (in two provinces) to record end-user perceptions. Structured questionnaires were used to conduct the interviews with both qualitative and quantitative information. RESULTS: Noteworthy differences were observed among the three sample groups of doctors, nurses and administrators as well as between our two hospital groups. The impact of automation in terms of cost and strategic value in public sector hospitals is shown to have yielded positive outcomes with regard to patient experience, hospital staff workflow enhancements, and overall morale in the workplace. CONCLUSION: The research provides insight into the reasons for investing in system automation, the associated outcomes, and organisational factors that impact the successful adoption of IT systems. In addition, it finds that sustainable success in these initiatives is as much a function of the technology as it is of the change management function that must accompany the system implementation.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationCline, G., & Luiz, J. (2013). Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa. <i>BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making</i>, http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15386en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationCline, Gregory, and John Luiz "Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa." <i>BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making</i> (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15386en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationCline, G. B., & Luiz, J. M. (2013). Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 13(1), 13.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Journal Article AU - Cline, Gregory AU - Luiz, John AB - BACKGROUND:The public healthcare sector in developing countries faces many challenges including weak healthcare systems and under-resourced facilities that deliver poor outcomes relative to total healthcare expenditure. Global references demonstrate that information technology has the ability to assist in this regard through the automation of processes, thus reducing the inefficiencies of manually driven processes and lowering transaction costs. This study examines the impact of hospital information systems implementation on service delivery, user adoption and organisational culture within two hospital settings in South Africa. METHODS: Ninety-four interviews with doctors, nurses and hospital administrators were conducted in two public sector tertiary healthcare facilities (in two provinces) to record end-user perceptions. Structured questionnaires were used to conduct the interviews with both qualitative and quantitative information. RESULTS: Noteworthy differences were observed among the three sample groups of doctors, nurses and administrators as well as between our two hospital groups. The impact of automation in terms of cost and strategic value in public sector hospitals is shown to have yielded positive outcomes with regard to patient experience, hospital staff workflow enhancements, and overall morale in the workplace. CONCLUSION: The research provides insight into the reasons for investing in system automation, the associated outcomes, and organisational factors that impact the successful adoption of IT systems. In addition, it finds that sustainable success in these initiatives is as much a function of the technology as it is of the change management function that must accompany the system implementation. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DO - 10.1186/1472-6947-13-13 DP - University of Cape Town J1 - BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa TI - Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15386 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/15386
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-6947-13-13
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationCline G, Luiz J. Information technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africa. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15386.en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisherBioMed Central Ltden_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentGSB: Facultyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.rightsThis is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_ZA
dc.rights.holder2013 Cline and Luiz; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.en_ZA
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0en_ZA
dc.sourceBMC Medical Informatics and Decision Makingen_ZA
dc.source.urihttp://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcmedinformdecismak/en_ZA
dc.subject.otherHospital information systemsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherInformation managementen_ZA
dc.subject.otherElectronic health recordsen_ZA
dc.subject.otherAfricaen_ZA
dc.subject.otherSouth Africaen_ZA
dc.titleInformation technology systems in public sector health facilities in developing countries: the case of South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeJournal Articleen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceArticleen_ZA
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