FACTORS INFLUENCING MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS’ USE OF INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN PROVISION OF HEALTH SERVICES IN KENYA
Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to determine readiness to accept and use ICT among medical practitioners in health services delivery by investigating medical practitioners’ perception on factors of influence in acceptability and use of ICT. The study focused on 3 factors that have been identified to be of significant influence in ICT use namely; perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and social pressure. The study therefore aimed at determining whether perceived usefulness of ICT, perceived ease of use of ICT and social pressure in ICT use, have influence on ICT use by medical practitioners. Using a survey method, a descriptive research methodology was adopted for the study and a stratified sampling technique used to define a sample size that consisted of doctors, clinical officers and nurses from the accessible population of medical practitioners in Kiambu district hospitals. The identified medical practitioners were requested to respond to questionnaires provided. The responses collected from the respondents were evaluated using descriptive analysis based on a multi regression model after which the outcome was presented using frequency distribution tables. The study findings were that, perceived usefulness of ICT positively influences its use by medical practitioners to a great extent where ICT enhances the security of patients’ health records as well as increasing the effectiveness of health service delivery. The study revealed that perceived ease of use of ICT influences its use by medical practitioners to a great extent since learning how to use ICT was perceived not easy and that it may require a lot of time learning how to use ICT system. The study established that users with limited ICT skills and knowledge tend to rely heavily on other people’s opinion about ICT at early stages of ICT adoption hence confirming the influence of social pressure on ICT users.
Full Text:
PDFReferences
American College of Physicians. (2008). E-Health and Its Impact on Medical Practice. Retrieved from https://www.acponline.org/advocacy/current_policy_papers /assets/ ehealth.pdf
Boore, C. (2012). Factors affecting implementation of Electronic medical records (EMR) in selected public hospitals in Nairobi,Kenya. (Unpublished Master’s Project). Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Capron, H., & Johnson, J. (2004). Computers tools for an Information Age. New Jersey: Pearson, Prentice Hall.
Chew, C., Bahaman, A., & Siti, Z. (2013). Critical Factors Affecting the Development of ICT Projects in Malaysia,. Asian Social Science , 9 (4), 42-50.
Deloitte. (2011). National e-Health Conference Report. Australia Goverment, Department of Health and Aging.
Gary, C., & Benbasat, I. (2001). Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. Information Systems Research , 2 (3), 192-222.
GOK. (2010). The bill of rights. The Constitution of Kenya , 43(1)(a).
Goldsmith, J. (2010). How Will the Internet Change Our Health System? Health Affairs , 19 (1), pp. 148-156.
Hair Jr., J. F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L.and Black, W.C. (1998), Multivariate data analysis, PrenticeHall, NewJersey.
Hancock, T., & Groff, P. (2000). Information Technology Health and Health Care: A view to the future. Ottawa.
Henry, L., & Spitler, V. (1999). Technology use and Performance:A field study of brokers workstation. Desicion sciences , 30 (2), 291-311.
Houghton, J. (2002). Information Technology and the Revolution in Healthcare.
Internationa Telecommunication Union. (2005). World Summit on the Information Society., (pp. 40-44). Geneva 2003-Tunis 2005.
International Telecommunication Union. (2012). E-health standards and interoperability ITU-T technology watch report. Geneva.
International Telecommunication Union. (2008). Implementing e-Health in Developing Countries Guidance and Principles. Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/cyb/app/docs/e-Health_prefinal_15092008.PDF
Juma, K., Nahason, M., Apollo, W., Gregory, W., & Patrick, O. (2012). Current Status of E-Health in Kenya and Emerging Global Research Trends. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology ,2(1),50-54
Karl, S., Jörg, A., & Giest, S. (2010). Country Brief: Germany. European Commision, Bonn/Bussels.
Kerry, M. (2007). Improving Health, Connecting People: The Role of ICTs in the Health Sector of Developing Countries. Retrieved from http://www.infodev.org/infodev-files/resource/InfodevDocuments_84.pdf
Kothari, C. (2004). Research Methodology methods& Techniques (2nd ed.). New Delhi, India: New Age International Publisher.
Legris, P., Ingham, J., & Pierre, C. (2001). Why do people use information technology?:A critical review of the technology acceptance model. Information and Management, 40(3),191-204.
Leonard, D. B., & Deschamps, I. (1988). Managerial Influence in Implementation of New Technology. Management Science , 34 (10), 1252-1264.
Marcelle, M. (2000). Gender, Justice and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). New York.
Matsuda, R. (2009). Health Policy Issues: New Technology, System Organisation/ Integration Survey no: (14). Retrieved from http://hpm.org/jp/a14/3.pdf
Microsoft. (2010). Answering the health ICT challenge: an optimized infrastructure. Retrieved from http://www.ehealthnews.eu/download/white-papers/2627-answering-the-health-ict-challenge-an-optimized-infrastructure
Mohamed, A. (2011). Causes of failure in Healthcare IT projects. Advanced Management Science ,19,46-50.
Muchangi, D. M., & Nzuki, D. (2014). Determinants of Electronic Health in Developing Countries. International Journal of Arts and Commerce , 3 (3), 49-60.
Mugenda, M., & Mugenda, G. (2003). Research Methods,Quantitative and Qualitative approaches. Nairobi,Kenya: Acts Press.
Mugenda, M., & Mugenda,G.(2009). Research Methods,Quantitative and Qualitative approaches. Nairobi,Kenya: Acts Press
Muliaro, J. (2007). ICT Policy and Strategies: Towards E-governance & sustainable development(Unpublished PHD project). Jomo kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya
Njiru, J. N. (2011). A framework for establishing E-health systems in Kenya (Unpublished Master’s project). Strathmore University, Kenya.
Njoroge, C. (2014). Factors influencing adoption of electronic health record systems in small private health facilities(Unpublished Master’s project). University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Orodho, A. (2003). Essentials of Educational and Social Science Research methods:Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. Nairobi: Acts Press.
Pirnejad, H. (2008). Communication in Healthcare: Opportunities for information technology and concerns for patient safety. Rotterdam.
Policy Engagement Network. (2010). Electronic Health Privacy and Security in Developing Countries and Humanitarian Operations. International Development Research Centre.
Schaper, L., & Pervan, G. P. (2007). An investigation of factors affecting technology acceptance and use decisions by Australian allied health therapists. Retrieved from http:// http://ieeexplore.ieee.org
Schweitzer, J., & Synowiec, C. (2010). The Economics of eHealth: Results for Development Institute. Retrieved March 2015, from http://dev.d-tree.org/ samba/ Rya and Jess/Articles 20mHealth/Economics of eHealth.pdf
Taylor, S., & Todd, P. (1995). Understanding Information Technology Usage; A test of competing models. Information Systems Research , 6 (2), 144-176.
The AIDSTAR-Two. (2011). The Use of ICT in Family Planning Reproductive Health and Other Health Programs: Trends and Evidence. Cambridge.
Thompson, R., Higgins, C., & Howell, J. M. (1991). Personal computing:Towards a conceptual model of Utilization. MIS Quarterly , 15 (1), 125-143.
Thomson, S., & Lim, V. (1998). Factors Influencing Personal Computer Usage Among Novice and Exprienced Users. Information Technology Management , 9(1), 43-55.
Tom, J., Dobrev, A., Jörg, A., & Veli, N. S. (2007). Conceptual framework, healthcare and eHealth investment context and challenges . EU Report.
Turowiec, A., Giest, S., Dumortier, J., & Jorg, A. (2010). E-health strategy, Country Brief:Poland. Bonn/Brussels.
UNICEF. (2012). Monitoring Essential Medicine Supply using Mobile Phones and RapidSMS. Retrieved from http://www.unicef.org/uganda/9903.html
United Nations. (1949). United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights., (pp. 6-5).
Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. (2000). A Theoretical Extension of the Technology Acceptance Model: Four Longitudinal Field Studies. Management Science , 46 (2), 186-204.
Venkatesh, V., Michael, G. M., Gordon, B. D., & Fred, D. D. (2003). User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly , 27 (3), 425-478.
Wilkowska, W., & Ziefle, M. (2012). Privacy and data security in E-health: Requirements from the user’s perspective. Health informatics , 18 (3), 191-201.
World Health Organization. (2004). eHealth for Health-care Delivery: Strategy 2004-2007. Geneva.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v3i1.208
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
PAST ISSUES:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.