Measurement of Health Information Technology Adoption: A Review of the Literature and Instrument Development

Abstract

Studies have shown that adoption and use of health information technology (IT) plays a role in improving the quality and efficiency of care. There are many empirical studies on health IT adoption and use in the U.S. and other Western countries, but little is known about the state of health IT adoption in Thailand. In addition, there exist few articles that focus on the theoretical and methodological aspects of health IT adoption. This study begins with the review of theories related to IT adoption from several fields including health informatics, information systems, and innovation diffusions. A critical review of these theories offer a perspective on the conceptualization of IT adoption, which would help researchers conducting IT adoption studies on their framework development. A methodological review of studies involving health IT adoption and use also helps gain valuable insights on the study design, methods, and measurement of health IT adoption that allow health IT adoption researchers to conduct better studies. Insights from the theoretical and methodological reviews lead to the proposed modification of an existing conceptual framework of health IT adoption called IT sophistication. The modified IT sophistication construct focuses on 3 different aspects related to health IT adoption: the technologies and information exchange that constitutes an organization’s IT infrastructure, the functions the available technologies offer, and the management and cultural practices that are known to influence successful adoption and use of health IT. A survey instrument was developed based on this framework, with the focus on measuring the hardly known state of health IT adoption in Thai hospitals.