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Healthcare is a critical social and economic component of modern economies. Healthcare spending accounts for a substantial portion of gross domestic product (GDP) in industrialized countries (OECD, 2011). Social, political and economic concerns, such as an aging population structure in industrialized nations, alongside rising costs of healthcare and healthcare technology, are resulting in pressures on cost-control as well as improved patient care. To deal with this pressing health policy issue, an increasing amount of attention is being paid to management practices of the healthcare industry to make informed decisions (Agarwal, Gao, DesRoches, & Jha, 2010). In particular, information systems (IS) are being put in to place so that healthcare organizations and systems can be held accountable for these decisions (Jaana, Teitelbaum, & Roffey, 2011; A. Winter et al., 2000). IS and Information Technology (IT) have become fundamental in the delivery of healthcare. IS investments in healthcare, have the potential to not only improve operational efficiency, but also service quality, patient satisfaction and quality of care (Bush, Lederer, Li, Palmisano, & Rao, 2009). As IS is looked upon as a key investment to addressing rising challenges of cost-control and quality improvement in the health care industry, use of IS in the healthcare industry has become an increasingly important and rapidly growing area of research.
The increasing role of IS and IT in healthcare is apparent in many geographic regions. In Europe, information and communication technology (ICT) for health is an emerging market estimated to be worth 60 billion Euros, and growing faster than all other health markets (European Commission & Reding, 2009). Canada expects to spend CAD$10 billion in the implementation of an electronic health record for all citizens (Canadian Institute for Health Information, 2009). In the United States alone, greater adoption of IS in healthcare could yield US$162 billion per year in savings (R. Taylor et al., 2005). The growing body of literature on IS and IT in healthcare reveals that IS has much to offer in managing healthcare costs, improving the quality of care, making healthcare systems safer, more affordable and accessible (Agarwal et al., 2010; Chiasson & Davidson, 2004; Fichman, Kohli, & Krishnan, 2011). IS is uniquely positioned to capture, store, process and communicate timely information to decision makers to coordinate healthcare at both individual and population levels (Fichman et al., 2011). Significant increases in IT spending in recent years have generated growing interest in its effects on cost structure, healthcare quality, and patient privacy (Chiasson & Davidson, 2004). Despite the potential benefits that IS can deliver to healthcare organizations, healthcare organizations face challenges in getting value from their IS investments. Effective use and beneficial outcomes from IS are not guaranteed and systems continue to fail to meet expectations in some way (Bush et al., 2009; Heeks, 2006).