Hospital Administrators and Technology as Determinants for Successful IT-Usage in Public Sector Hospitals of Developing Countries

The impact assessment of IT on decision making process has now become a global issue and thereby gaining interest of researchers of both developed and developing societies (see for example Ahlan, 2005; Adebayo, 2007; Bradley, 2006). However, empirical studies have been conducted to evaluate the impacts of IT on health-related decision making by healthcare professionals in Pakistan. To fill the existing gap in the literature the study at hand is undertaken to evaluate the factors affecting the use of IT in public health organizations in KPK, Pakistan. This paper assesses the effects of two key factors (hospital administrators and technology) to see their influence on the adoption and use of IS (information system) development in hospitals of Pakistan especially public sector hospitals. The current research asserts that hospital administrators’/executives’ interest and support for implementation and use of IT and available technology are the primary determinants for successful implementation and use of the IT in public hospitals. The healthcare organizations supported by the administrators and effective hardware and software solutions can materialize successful adoption and use of IT in healthcare organizations anywhere including developing states. Key words: Hospital Administrators, Technology, and IT-usage