An Electronic Health Record Management Model For Healthcare Organizations In Iraq

The electronic health record (EHR) is an important system of information and communication technologies to the healthcare sector. EHR implementation is expected to produce benefits for patients, professionals, organizations, and the population as a whole. These benefits cannot be achieved without the adoption of EHR by healthcare organizations. Despite the extensive literature, there is still limited research related to the factors which impact on healthcare organizations adoption of this new innovation in the developing countries. In addition, the adoption rate of such systems is still low and meets resistance from the users. This because of the gap between the developers of electronic health and the assumptions of the users. The literature argues that the adoption of electronic health technology is dependent of the acceptance of this technology by the users. Therefore, many theories such as technology acceptance theory, institutional theory, DOI, TOE and TRA, were all developed to provide an effective model that explains how to adopt an optimal health electronic that meets users’ needs. Yet, each theory discussed electronic adoption from different view of points such as individual factors, external environmental factors, technological feature, organizational roles and etc., leaving a wide body of knowledge vary from one study to another and from one country to another. This contradictory finding leaves a gap and raises a questions what is the appropriate model for electronic health adoption, especially in developing countries were the electronic health records still in the infant stage. Therefore, this research aims to come out with a model of EHR adoption from developing countries. For example, in Iraq, EHR is still in its nascent stage, thus the current research provides valuable guidance for IT managers for making solid decisions to transform their information system toward adopting EHR among Iraqi healthcare organizations. To meet the research objectives of this study, the researcher adopts quantitative approach. A self-administered survey using questionnaire was conducted on 388 clinical staff selected from selected hospitals in Iraq. The research analyse tools are SPSS and structure equation modelling (SEM) in AMOS. The main factors that were identified as playing a significant positive role in healthcare organizations adoption of EHR system were: knowledge and skills, training, attitudes towards, privacy and security, complexity, compatibility, top management support, organization size, IT capabilities, culture, policy, government support. While cost-effectiveness is playing a significant negative effect on EHR adoption. These findings have important implications and great value to the academic researchers and health sector practitioners. The outcomes of this study can be applied by both healthcare organizations and the government. In addition, the new model developed in this study was proven to be more effective for EHR adoption in Iraqi healthcare organizations