The implementation problems of Medical Information Systems

The use of medical information systems is now prevailing in the whole healthcare environment where the focus is on reducing clinical errors and supporting healthcare professionals in their routine tasks. Hospitals adopt medical information systems to facilitate their healthcare staff in providing efficient services to patients. Studies show that most of the time these systems cannot deliver according to their functional capacities due to certain implementation problems. In this research, we have indicated different implementation problems, their root causes and suggested proper approaches for solving these issues. In the textual analysis, we examined different technical, psychological and social problems that may arise during the implementation process. These theoretical findings have been validated through questionnaires and interviews with doctors, nurses, technicians and people involved in the development of medical information systems. The companies that are providing implementation services are also consulted to validate the theoretical facts. The results show that implementation problems are social and psychological rather than technical, so these problems should be solved with interpersonal, psychological and social skills. The focus of the implementation process should be on the social, psychological and technical effects to avoid any conflict. Reasonable user involvement in the decision making process, motivation and proper training reduces many implementation issues automatically. It is concluded from empirical results that development and implementation teams should have reasonable medical domain knowledge to diminish future implementation and maintenance hazards. The theoretical and empirical results show that data security issues are psychological as well as technical and should be dealt with by high priority