Health Practitioners Electronic Health Records Adoption

The deployment of technology applications into corporate service delivery structures has for some time now been on the rise in both developed and developing countries.Within the context of technology use,the health sector has not been left out.Essentially,the integration of a wide array of technologies into healthcare and service delivery have enhanced improvements in healthcare outcomes.Considering the need to develop and maintain resilient healthcare structures in developing countries,(e.g.Ghana),the need for pursuing innovative approaches that propel technology adoption to improve healthcare outcomes becomes relevant.Against the backdrop of the reported slow pace of technology adoption among health practitioners,this study sets out to investigate value,attitudinal and technology related factors regarding health practitioners' electronic health records use in Ghana.Using the Perceived Value Theory and the Theory of Reasoned Action,this study used a questionnaire to elicit data from 303 participants in Ghana.The study used Analysis of Moments of Structures(AMOS)to run a statistical analysis of data based on the Structural Equation Modeling(SEM)technique.From the 303 responses gathered,Males constituted 179(59%),and Females were also made up of 125(41%)respondents.The results of the study revealed that;perceived quality value(?=.258**,p<0.01,t=2.582),perceived value for money(?=.150*,p<0.05,t=1.979),perceived emotional value(?=.138*,p=0.05,t=2.134)and perceived social value(?=.371***,p<0.001,t=4.952),all had a significant positive relationship with attitude towards electronic health records.Furthermore,the study results indicated that,attitude towards electronic health records had a significant positive relationship with adoption intention(?=.734***,p<0.001,t=6.170).Finally,the study revealed that,technology insecurity as a moderator,had a dampening effect on the relationship between attitude towards electronic health records and adoption intention(?=-.139***,p<0.001).A summary of the study hypotheses revealed all variables to be significant.Among the perceived value factors,perceived social value was revealed as the strongest predictor of attitude towards electronic health records.The second predictor was perceived quality value,followed by perceived value for money.Perceived emotional value was finally revealed as the least predictor of attitude.In view of the study outcomes,the study proffers that,electronic health interventions targeting healthcare service providers like health practitioners,should take into cognizance a wide range of value and behavioral considerations.From the study findings,it is obvious that,health technology adoption is not influenced by a single factor,but rather,by a confluence of factors including value,behavioral and technology specific variables.