Evaluating actors and factors associated with healthcare information systems

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) has emerged to support organisations overcoming their integration problems and it has been adopted by many organisations in various sectors. Despite its importance, the healthcare domain develops EAI solutions at a slower pace compared to other sectors. The small number of EAI applications in healthcare has resulted in limited research in this area with many issues requiring further investigation. The normative literature analyzes the factors that influence EAI adoption in healthcare (MAESTRO model) but it has not yet explored the role of actors during the adoption process. In this chapter, Vasiliki Mantzana, Marinos Themistocleous and Vincenzo Morabito take a step forward and contribute to the body of knowledge as they: (a) highlight the role of healthcare actors and attitudes towards EAI adoption, (b) identify the actors involved in this process, by using the proposed IGOHcaps method and (c) combine the actor-oriented approach with the factors influencing EAI adoption. They believe that such an approach is significant and novel as it: (a) enhances existing EAI adoption models (MAESTRO) by incorporating an actor-oriented analysis and (b) facilitates healthcare organisations in making robust decisions for EAI adoption. Mantzana, Themistocleous, and Morabito aim to contribute in this area by presenting and validating a model that incorporates human actors (IGOHcaps method) (Mantzana et al., 2007) into an existing model on EAI adoption (MAESTRO) (Khoumbati et al., 2006). Sections 1 and 2 describes accordingly, Healthcare Information Systems (HIS), their potential and challenges. In Section 3, the need for HIS integration is presented. In the sections that follow, the adoption of EAI is analyzed and the authors derive and propose a conceptual model that incorporates human, organisational and technical factors. Thereafter, the research methodology and the case study used to evaluate the conceptual model are described. The findings and their analysis are presented and explained before conclusions are drawn in Section 7.