Investigating the Adoption of an Integrated Hospital Information System in Rural Uganda: A Case of Kisiizi Hospital

Abstract

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) have been proposed to improve the quality of services in healthcare organisations. However, sometimes, the design contexts of these systems tend to be different from the use contexts. This and other factors have been reported to cause failures of EMR adoptions. By focusing on factors from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model, we use interviews and questionnaire as data collection instruments to study the adoption of an EMR which was locally developed in rural Uganda; to generate lessons that would sustain the use of the EMR. We found out that all of the following factors, from the UTAUT model, significantly affected the usage of the system and, consequently, facilitated the adoption of the EMR at Kisiizi Hospital: expected improvement in job performance, the easiness with which the system can be learned and used, support and influence from management and peers, and the availability of organisational and technical infrastructures to support the use of the system. All of these were largely due to the fact that physicians from Kisiizi Hospital initiated and drove the system development and implementation processes, making sure that correct requirements were captured, and championing the use of the system by staff at the hospital. The in-context explanations for the findings are also provided.