Effects of information technology on organizational communication: A case study of a selected healthcare organization

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of information technology on organizational communication specifically in a selected health organization by finding out how the decisions to adopt a technology is made and what influences such decision most. This study used a semi-structured interview with open ended questions and the evaluation of documents provided by the organization under study. The top management stratum of the organizational hierarchy was interviewed because they are considered as the determinants of the decision to adopt or not to adopt a communication technology by the organization. Six participants were interviewed while evaluating the documents provided as supporting evidence for the claims of the organization. The interviews were audio recorded and the participants were given pseudonyms to protect people's identities. IRB approval was obtained from the Florida State University IRB committee and consent forms were duly signed by each participant. Timeliness was reported mostly as a definition of effectiveness by most of the participants and ease of use and perceived usefulness or compatibility with the intended task was also considered as very important factors in deciding to adopt a technology for communication. From the revenue-generation perspective, the cost of investment was considered as very important such that if the performance yield of the technology will not be commensurate with the anticipated returns on investment, the likelihood for the technology to be adopted is very low.