The Existence of Healthcare Software and Factor Associated with Healthcare Software Adoption in Public and Private Hospitals: the Case of Addis Ababa

Abstract

In the last decade, the field of health informatics has grown worldwide. Information communication technology has been integrated into health systems and services since 2000 G.C. Information technology is an essential tool to improve healthcare costs, safety, and the quality and equity of care. The health system faces different challenges, lack of supportive legislation, lack of budget, lack of relational collaboration and well-trained personnel is one of the factors. This study is assessed software adoption and factors affecting software adoption in public and private hospitals in Addis Ababa. The study conducted in Addis Ababa Hospitals. Both quantitative and qualitative research were done. Twenty percent of Addis Ababa’s hospitals were sampled for the study using multistage and probability sampling techniques. The final sample of the study is 8 hospitals 5 public and 3 private hospitals. The quantitative data were analyzed using frequency, percentage and mean and range and the qualitative data were analyzed thematic analyses technique using open-coding. From the study, 8 hospitals 5 general and 3 specialized hospitals are identified. Only one private hospital uses an online patient appointment scheduling system, while all public hospitals use health information management systems and almost all public and private hospitals employ medical recording systems and all. Four contexts are identified as the factor of affecting health care software upgrade or implementation; Organizational context: that include expensiveness, complexity of system, and organizational culture and knowledge; Technical context: includes lack of cloud and week internet, system complexity, incompatibility and lack of integration, and security and privacy issue; Environmental context: poor government support and internal developer, and Human context: Poor organization IT knowledge and capability.