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

Abstract

BackgroundThe 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.MethodsNinety-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.ResultsNoteworthy 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.ConclusionThe 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.

Detection of Cerebrovascular Disease with Mobile Application (Preprint)

“…A longitudinal field study in a village in India also confirmed this result [8]. However, the level of research interest in the area of adoption and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in developing countries is currently increasing [9].…”

Sustainability of health information systems: a three-country qualitative study in southern Africa

“…Agreement on system vision and goals, and on how to measure these, was frequently noted by participants to be a crucial step in introducing a successful and sustainable EHIS. Accordingly, clarity and concordance on goals also enabled championing whether top-down or bottom-up; this has been found to be important in other instances of EHIS implementation as well [27]. …”

“…The study focuses on work in three sub-Saharan African countries supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under PEPFAR. This article complements a broader emerging literature about the implementation, effectiveness and impact of EHIS in low-resource settings [18–20] including in Latin America [21–23], Asia [24–26] and sub-Saharan Africa [27, 28]. Few studies have emphasized the sustainability of EHIS, particularly with a multi-country comparison and in the context of declining donor support, as is presented here (with some noteworthy exceptions [21, 29]).…”

Leveraging E‐Health for Future‐Oriented Healthcare Systems in Developing Countries

“…As Kimaro & Nhampossa (2007) also pointed out, this makes offline working difficult even for those medical personnel who operate in areas with limited or no network connectivity. It is disheartening to note that these conditions are still prevailing in many countries including those with reasonably developed technology infrastructure like South Africa (Cline & Luiz, 2013). Justice (2012) observed that; the lack of infrastructure, poor technological preparedness and insufficient training hinders healthcare workers in developing countries from getting latest medical information and to collaborate with their counterparts in developed countries.…”