Local Area Network End User Satisfaction Study at the Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration's VA Puget Sound Health Care System

Abstract

This non-experimental, longitudinal study examines Local Area Network (LAN) end user satisfaction (EUS) among 47 healthcare executives at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA PSHCS). The executives included in this study were using the LAN before October 1, 1997 and after the implementation (February 18,1998) of the LAN infrastructure enhancements. This study uses satisfaction as one measure to support the LAN enhancements, and äs an indicator of LAN success or effectiveness using the short form instrument developed by Blake Ives, Margrethe Olsen and Jack Baroudi in 1983, and refined by Jack Baroudi and Wanda Orlikowski in 1988. While the VA PSHCS improves their information technologies (IT), the organization must balance quality, access, and cost of providing healthcare services to eligible veterans. Additionally, the organization must scan the horizon for opportunities to remain solvent in an era of limited resources and alternative healthcare delivery models. Therefore, with limited resources, healthcare organizations that improve their IT must somehow demonstrate the added value of IT expenditures and establish system success. This paper presents three hypotheses that were tested using the short form instrument to measure LAN EUS. Most importantly, I wish to thank my wife for her unwavering support during both of the didactic and residency phases of my graduate studies, which has ultimately allowed me to focus on this project.The views and/or opinions expressed in this paper, unless otherwise stated, are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Veterans Health Administration, the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, and/or the U.S Army-Baylor University Program in Health Care Administration.To obtain an official copy of this report, please contact the author or the Defense Technical Information Center. Reproduction of this report in any manner is unauthorized without prior written permission from the author or the Defense Technical Information Center. AbstractThis non-experimental, longitudinal study examines Local Area Network (LAN) end user satisfaction (EUS) among 47 healthcare executives at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System (VA PSHCS). The executives included in this study were using the LAN before October 1,1997, and after the implementation (February 18, 1998) of the LAN infrastructure enhancements. This study uses satisfaction as one measure to support the LAN enhancements, and as an indicator of LAN success or effectiveness using the short form instrument developed by Blake Ives, Margrethe Olsen and Jack Baroudi in 1983, and refined by Jack Baroudi and Wanda Orlikowski in 1988. While the VA PSHCS improves their information technologies (IT), the organization must balance quality, access, and cost of providing healthcare services to eligible veterans. Additionally, the organization must scan the horizon for opportunities to remain solvent in an era of limited resources and alternative healthcare delivery models. Therefore, with limi...