Impact of Attitude on Implementation of E-Healthcare in Western Region of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Healthcare, either in paper-based or digital format, is an information-intensive industry as for the industry to operate; it depends on the existence of patient health information (PHI) that is collected whenever a patient visits a healthcare center. Contrary to paper-based healthcare setup where PHI is collected every time a patient visits a healthcare center, in e-healthcare physicians collect Personal Identifiable Information only once and frequently update its related medical records. In general term, e-healthcare is related to computerization of healthcare services. Major factors identified as significant in the introduction of information & communication technology (ICT) into health care practice are ICT literacy of staffs ,confidentiality, security of e-healthcare information systems and the attitude of staffs’ that will use the system. Healthcare staffs are change agents in healthcare sector. They are key drivers who play crucial role in ICT integration in healthcare. Objective of this study is to research the impact of Attitudes of healthcare staffs when implementation of e-healthcare in western region of Sri Lanka. The Computer Attitude Scale (CAS), developed by Selwyn (1997) was used to measure the health care professionals’ attitudes towards the computer. It consists of four components of computer attitudes (Affect, Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Control, Behavioural intentions). A sample of 100 healthcare staff representing doctors, paramedical staff, nurses, Development officers, clerks were assessed for their attitude with respect to ICT using a Likert type questionnaire. Samples were collected from state teaching hospitals in Colombo, Gampaha and Kaluthara districts.( Lady Ridgway Hospital for Children (LRH), Colombo North Teaching Hospital – Ragama, General Hospital Kalutara).There were 60 females (60%) participants and 40 were male (40%). The average number of years of computer use was 8.73 years (SD=5.722). According to the analyzed data, healthcare staff in western region of Sri Lanka have positive comfort level towards ICT. Behavioral intentions of healthcare staff with respect to ICT have positive responses. Further, healthcare staff have positive feelings towards ICT and have positive beliefs about the usefulness of ICT in their job. This study clearly depict that staff of healthcare in western region of Sri Lanka have positive attitude to work in computerized environment.