Information Technology Sophistication in Hospitals: A Field Study in Quebec

The Quebec health sector has been experiencing a period of great turmoil over the last five years. Among other institutions, hospitals are faced with huge pressures from government funding cuts. Several empirical studies in the information systems field have shown that the use of computer-based information systems could have positive impacts on organizational performance. Many agree to say that health care institutions are no exceptions. But if one wishes to identify the effects of IT on the delivery of care, one must be able to characterize IT for operationalization purposes. The objective of this research project is twofold. Our first aim consists in developing and validating a measurement instrument of IT sophistication in hospitals. Such instrument should provide hospital managers with a diagnostic tool capable of indicating the profile of their respective institutions in regard to IT use and comparing this profile to those of other similar health institutions. In this line of thought, our second objective consists in presenting the IT sophistication profile of Quebec hospitals.
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