An Exploratory Study to Understand the Drivers and Inhibitors for the Successful Adoption of Wireless Technology in Australian Healthcare Systems

An Exploratory Study to Understand the Drivers and Inhibitors for the Successful Adoption of Wireless Technology in Australian Healthcare Systems

Abdul Hafeez-Baig (University of Southern Queensland, Australia) and Raj Gururajan (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 12
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-266-4.ch019

Abstract

According to the Australian Department of Health and Aging (n.d.) the adoption of new technologies is crucial in addressing health issues. Currently, wireless technology is used in Australian healthcare with limited scope, addressing specific aspects of quality of service offered to various stakeholders. While prior studies agree that wireless applications have the potential to address the endemic problems of healthcare, very limited information can be found about the determinants of such applications. Therefore, there is a need to identify factors that may assist in the adoption of wireless applications in healthcare and the factors acting as barriers in the uptake of such applications. This chapter reports on a study designed to elicit these factors using a semi structured interview approach and surveys. The study is structured in two specific phases. The first phase involved a semi structured interview with selected healthcare professionals to understand various factors involved in the adoption of wireless applications as applicable to Australian healthcare. The second phase involved administering a survey to generalize the findings of phase one and to capture the views of the wider population.
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Adoption And Background

Earlier models of technology adoption come with criticism. For example, in terms of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA), irrational decisions, habitual actions and other unintentional behaviours are not explained (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). TRA is also limited by its reliance on self reported information to determine the subject’s attitude and the data reported may be subjective in nature (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Farhoomand et al., 1990; Fredricks & Dossett, 1983; Tan & Teo, 2000). The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) is also limited in that it describes the attributes of adoption at the individual unit of analysis rather then at the organisational level. This precludes its use when dealing with an adoption based on primarily, organisational units (Ajzen, 1985; Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen & Driver, 1992; Ajzen & Madden, 1986; Cheung et al, 1999; Madden et al., 1992; Randall & Gibson, 1991).

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