The Impact of Context on the Adoption of Health Informatics in Australia

Australia’s National Health and Hospital Reform Commissions e-health agenda has necessitated an improvement in our understanding of the factors impacting the intention to adopt integrated information systems. This imperative is echoed by OECD health ministers and forms the focus for the ministerial meeting schedule for October 2010, ‘Health Priorities in the Aftermath of the Crisis’. This paper reviews the IS adoption literature to identify factors which influence the intention to use an integrated information system, and to share data. In particular this study incorporates input from medical professionals and others in the health sector in terms of describing their understanding of why integrated information systems are being presented as a solution to the problem of providing healthcare in the Australian healthcare setting. A qualitative analysis of the interviews highlights tensions in the healthcare sector which may be impacting intention to adopt ehealth initiatives. These tensions may resonate with other countries attempting to reform healthcare using ICT’s.