Factors Affecting Acceptance of Hospital Information Systems Based on Extended Technology Acceptance Model: A Case Study in Three Paraclinical Departments

OBJECTIVE: Regardless of the acceptance of users, information and communication systems can be considered as a health intervention designed to improve the care delivered to patients. This study aimed to determine the adoption and use of the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM2) by the users of hospital information system (HIS) in paraclinical departments including laboratory, radiology, and nutrition and to investigate the key factors of adoption and use of these systems. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A standard questionnaire was used to collect the data from nearly 253 users of these systems in paraclinical departments of eight university hospitals in two different cities of Iran. A total of 202 questionnaires including valid responses were used in this study (105 in Urmia and 97 in Khorramabad). The data were processed using LISREL and SPSS software and statistical analysis technique was based on the structural equation modeling (SEM). RESULTS: It was found that the original TAM constructs had a significant impact on the staffs' behavioral intention to adopt HIS in paraclinical departments. The results of this study indicated that cognitive instrumental processes (job relevance, output quality, result demonstrability, and perceived ease of use), except for result demonstrability, were significant predictors of intention to use, whereas the result revealed no significant relationship between social influence processes (subjective norm, voluntariness, and image) and the users' behavioral intention to use the system. CONCLUSION: The results confirmed that several factors in the TAM2 that were important in previous studies were not significant in paraclinical departments and in government-owned hospitals. The users' behavior factors are essential for successful usage of the system and should be considered. It provides valuable information for hospital system providers and policy makers in understanding the adoption challenges as well as practical guidance for the successful implementation of information systems in paraclinical departments.