Aligning IT Assets to Maximize Healthcare Organizational Performance

This study examines the efficiency impact of healthcare information technology assets on organizational performance. Using an econometric approach with data envelopment analysis, both individual IT assets and IT asset clusters are measured relative to an efficient peer group. The results provide insight to organizational structuring of IT asset portfolios

Security and Privacy Issues in Wireless Sensor Networks for Healthcare Applications

The use of wireless sensor networks (WSN) in healthcare applications is growing in a fast pace. Numerous applications such as heart rate monitor, blood pressure monitor and endoscopic capsule are already in use. To address the growing use of sensor technology in this area, a new field known as wireless body area networks (WBAN or simply BAN) has emerged. As most devices and their applications are wireless in nature, security and privacy concerns are among major areas of concern. Due to direct involvement of humans also increases the sensitivity. Whether the data gathered from patients or individuals are obtained with the consent of the person or without it due to the need by the system, misuse or privacy concerns may restrict people from taking advantage of the full benefits from the system. People may not see these devices safe for daily use. There may also possibility of serious social unrest due to the fear that such devices may be used for monitoring and tracking individuals by government agencies or other private organizations. In this paper we discuss these issues and analyze in detail the problems and their possible measures

Enterprise Readiness for IT Innovation: A Study of Mobile Computing in Healthcare

This research posits that enterprise-wide information technology (IT) innovation initiatives in uncertain economic times amplify the need and importance for decision makers to systemically evaluate their organization’s capabilities, competencies, and potential risk areas that could either accelerate or impede adoption and implementation. The purpose of this research is to develop a theoretically-grounded, conceptual framework of healthcare enterprise readiness for IT innovation that will aid health IT decision makers with this complex task. We study this in the context of mobile computing which is poised to fundamentally transform healthcare delivery by improving patient care and lowering costs. Preliminary findings of our multi-phase exploratory empirical study with healthcare CIOs reveal the relative importance of several key assessment dimensions and indicators. Our research has important implications for both adopters and providers of health IT and contributes to our broader understanding of IT-enabled transformation of healthcare

Aligning IT Assets to Maximize Healthcare Organizational Performance

This study examines the impact of healthcare information technology assets on organizational efficiency. Using an econometric approach with data envelopment analysis, we examine the effect of IT asset clusters on organizational efficiency as measured relative to a peer group of healthcare organizations We observe that different IT asset clusters have varying effects on organizational efficiency based on the size of the organizations. The results of this study have implications for healthcare organizations in planning their investments across various IT asset clusters

Conceptualization of the Factors Affecting the Quality of Mobile Health Services of Active SMEs in Healthcare System

Development of new technologies, particularly information technology (IT) has a great impact on the health care area and the quality of life style. IT advancement and integration of the internet and digital technologies in mobile health (M-Health) platform has made the health care delivery, affordable and accessible around the world through mobile phones. Although the m-Health has many benefits, it causes increasing concerns about improvement of the service quality in this field. Improvement of the M-Health service quality has attracted much attention in the academic and practitioner communities in recent years. However, empirical research in this area is not sufficiently adequate. This paper deals with identifying the factors affecting on m-health service quality which is required by health clients in small and medium-sized enterprises in Iran. This study has been conducted via a qualitative approach which includes semi-structured interviews with 12 professionals and experts of the information technology and e-health fields. Results have been demonstrated based on the encoding method. Furthermore, the findings have been compared with other studies. As a result of this study, a new conceptual model for m-health service quality has been developed. Finally, it is argued that the results of this study are applicable in organizations, which involve in e-health field to improve the quality of mobile services for health

Development and validation of an instrument to measure user perceived service quality of mHealth

The role of service quality in fostering the growth of mHealth services has gained much attention in the academic and practitioner communities. However, empirical research in this area has been beset by inadequate conceptualization and the lack of a validated scale. This study addresses these limitations by theoretically conceptualizing and empirically validating a multidimensional service quality scale in the mHealth context. The findings show that mHealth service quality is a hierarchical, multidimensional, and reflective construct, which consists of three primary dimensions and eight subdimensions. The results also confirm that the mHealth service quality scale is more effective at predicting satisfaction and continuance in a nomological network

Improving Rural Healthcare Delivery in Nigeria using Distributed Expert System Technology

Provision of adequate healthcare for the citizens is the responsibility of governments. This involves recruiting qualified medical personnel, and providing quality medical services nationwide. Theratio of medical doctorsto patients in Nigeria is 1:6,800, which means the citizens are grossly underserved in terms of medical services. Hence, there is need for new strategies that will ensure that more citizens access healthcare services, particularly people in the rural areas. In this paper, a framework for an SMS based expert system for rural healthcare delivery is proposed, which takes advantage of the wide coverage of telephony services in the rural areas in Nigeria. A preliminary evaluation of the expert system for pulmonary heart disease that was developed reveals that it emulates human expert capability at a reasonable level. This makes it suitable for deployment on a national scale to cater for the shortage of medical practitioners particularly in the rural area