Adoption of cloud health information systems among healthcare professionals in Pakistan

Abstract

The term healthcare interoperability is predominantly interconnected with the successful capability of exchanging information, methods, and policies in the medical sector. It encompasses restructuring the process of storing the patient’s data and other health-related information, which helps medical specialists in successful interpretation and evaluation of the patients’ condition. Cloud computing, which is one of the state-of-the-art advancements in Information Technology, has provided a substitute mode in managing and accessing health data. This technology relies on different online software applications, which are used through the internet by a great number of people. Pakistan’s medical industry is still in its early stages to adopt the technology of cloud computing. Nevertheless, healthcare data, for instance, X-Rays, medications, and patient history, of both government and nongovernment hospitals is proliferating significantly in size, diversity, and rate in this country. As a result, it has caused some significant problems to the medical industry from two distinctive viewpoints, including poor IT integrity and information intricacy. Hence, to maintain and manage records of healthcare, it is imperative for the medical sector in Pakistan to access the importance of cloud computing. Several factors that are influencing medical specialists of hospitals of Pakistan in adopting cloud health information systems be examined in the survey. A questionnaire was designed based on the conceptual model. The quantitative research design has been adapted. A survey questionnaire was distributed among the healthcare professionals of Pakistan hospitals was conducted to determine the key factors affecting healthcare professional’s adoption of cloud computing services. The survey results led to identify certain factors related to the service quality and system quality in terms of cost effectiveness, Internetwork Facilitating Conditions, Performance Expectancy, compatibility, Complexity, Data security, Data Privacy, Hardware Modularity, Software Modularity. The effect of these factors on healthcare professionals’ behavioural control and confirmation to adopt cloud computing services was investigated. A seven-point Likert scale was used throughout the questionnaire. Total number of 450 questionnaires were distributed to healthcare professionals and 390 were responded, the response rate is 86.66%. From these returned questionnaires only 355 were usable, so response rate is 91%. The collected data has been analysed using SPSS and PLS-SEM. The results showed that the Cost effectiveness, Perceived Usefulness, Performance expectancy, compatibility, Usability on healthcare professionals’ confirmation and behavioural control were statistically significant and had a positive effect on adoption of the cloud computing in the Pakistan hospitals.