Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Mahsa Dobahrizadeh ¹
• Mohammad Reza Farhadpour ²

¹ Master's Degree Graduate, Department of Information Technology Management- Information Resource Management, Ahv. C. Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Information Management, Ahv. C. Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran

Abstract

1. Introduction

Information technology, which was considered a competitive advantage and a strategic weapon by organizations until a few years ago, is now regarded as a competitive necessity. The increasing wave of utilizing information technology has encompassed the country in recent years, and many organizations show a strong desire to adopt these new technologies. In this context, hospitals, as one of the essential components of the progress and development of any country, are not exempt from this trend (Khandouzi & Latifi, 2011).
The widespread use of information technology systems in hospitals and public healthcare centers (Aggelidis & Chatzoglou, 2012) is rooted in the belief that their implementation can have a profound impact on the quality of processes and health care outcomes (Ammenwerth, Rauchegger, Ehlers, Hirsch & Schaubmayr, 2011). Shiferaw et al. (2017) believe that the use of reliable information from health information systems over time significantly contributes to improving health outcomes, addressing inequalities, increasing efficiency, and encouraging innovative behaviors. Perhaps it is because of these advantages that many hospital nurses around the world strive to move from recording health information on paper to creating electronic health records (Rezaian et al., 2018).
There is substantial evidence indicating that hospital information systems have created hazardous conditions for patient health due to poor design, inadequate implementation, or the inability to adapt and accept. Research has shown that many factors influence the effective use of information systems, and it seems that examining the effects of these factors and striving to strengthen the positive ones while providing solutions to address the hindering factors will play a significant role in overcoming the barriers to using information systems (Baratpour et al., 2017).
The results of our studies show that the issue of using information, information systems and electronic media is a complex issue involving various factors such as organizational factors, including information culture as a factor in the formation of culture, organizational ownership of information, and job autonomy. Individual factors include the tendency to share information, organizational systems or departments, and in a free environment, comfort with computers and information factors. Also, in other studies, factors such as system quality, task technology suitability and information quality, internal factors and external factors, management support, training, user participation, information quality, system quality, support quality, system use, perceived usefulness, user characteristics, organizational structure, and management style have been investigated. Considering the breadth of factors studied in previous studies, it is clear that organizational, individual, and information variables are more relevant to the conditions of information flow in the hospital information system and have received less attention in previous studies. Therefore, the main purpose of the study is to determine what effect information culture, organizational ownership of information, tendency to share information, job independence, comfort with computers, and computer-based information characteristics have on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
Research Question(s)
H₁: Information culture has a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
H₂: Organizational ownership of information has a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
H₃: Tendency to share information has a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
H₄: Job independence has a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
H₅: Comfort with computers has a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.
H₆: Characteristics of computer-based information have a significant positive effect on the use of the information system of Amir al-Momenin Hospital in Ahvaz.

2. Literature Review

A review of research literature shows that the use of information systems has increasingly become a major concern for information systems policymakers and organizational managers. This can be seen in the diversity of variables and components studied. The reason for this attention is, on the one hand, the expectations of managers to make better use of information systems in return for the costs incurred, and on the other hand, to help the organization's decision-making process centered on information. The results of the studies reviewed indicate that the variable of information system use has received less attention from researchers. Despite the fact that various variables have been the focus of research, it seems that on the one hand, it is necessary to separate these variables into different categories, and on the other hand, less attention has been paid to important variables such as information culture, ownership of organizational information, and information characteristics of systems. In simple terms, the totality of the variables studied in the present study has not been considered together in previous studies. In addition, they have not been specifically studied in relation to organizational information systems. Another noteworthy point is that these variables have not been studied in the field of hospital information systems. Given the importance of information and its correct, accurate, up-to-date and appropriate flow in the field of health and treatment, where on the one hand the slightest error may harm a patient's health and on the other hand disrupt the decision-making process, it is necessary to pay more attention to components such as organizational ownership of information, information culture, and computer-centric information characteristics. As a result, the present study, on the one hand, has considered several predictor variables that have been studied sporadically in previous studies and, on the other hand, has addressed their impact on the use of health information systems.

3. Methodology

The research is applied in terms of purpose and analytical survey in terms of nature. The research population was 250 users of hospital information systems, of which 151 were selected randomly. Data were collected through a researcher-made questionnaire based on previous research tools. The instrument's content validity was approved. The confirmatory factor analysis and its reliability were confirmed using Cronbach's alpha (α=0.85). Data were analyzed by SPSS and Amos software.

4. Results

The findings showed that information culture (β = 0.20 and t-value = 2.440), organizational ownership of information (β = 0.18 and t-value = 2.165), tendency to share information (β = 0.22 and t-value = 2.708), job independence (β = 0.17 and t-value = 2.119), comfort with computer (β = 0.24 and t-value = 2.929) and the characteristics of computer-based information (β = 0.17 and t-value = 2.055) have an effect on the use of the health information system of Amir al-Mominin Hospital of Ahvaz.

5. Discussion

The result is that the use of hospital information systems is a complex multidimensional issue and various individual, cultural, organizational and technological characteristics have an effect on it.

6. Conclusion

Therefore, it is suggested that the managers of the organization should show the importance of encouraging organizational behaviors and activities related to information, the correct definition of ownership of organizational information and its institutionalization, the use of reward mechanisms, encouragement, training and trust building. Sharing information for the organization, providing conditions for employees to use their individual and innovative capabilities freely in applying methods, making decisions and determining criteria, providing suitable training courses to improve the level of literacy and computer skills of employees, and improving the ability of the information system to provide appropriate outputs and reports related to the organization's needs.
 

Keywords

• information culture
• organizational ownership of information
• information sharing
• job independence
• comfort with computers
• hospital information system

Main Subjects

• Evaluation of Information and Knowledge Retrieval Systems