Information and Communication Technology Adoption by Healthcare Professionals: an Overview of Theoretical Models and Their Application

It has long been advocated that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) offers a huge potential to answer many of the challenges that the healthcare sector is facing. ICT applications promise efficient tools to collect, store, process and communicate health-related data and information. In that respect, it is believed that ICT could improve safety, quality, and cost-efficiency of healthcare services. Benefits for patients, health care professionals, organizations and the public in general are thus expected. Therefore, the integration of ICT into the health system constitutes a priority for many countries. However, ICT adoption among healthcare providers remains an important issue. This paper reviews some of the theoretical models that have been applied to the study of ICT adoption in the specific sector of healthcare, presents a synthesis of actual knowledge on factors involved in ICT adoption among healthcare professionals, and identifies key issues that need to be addressed in order to promote the integration of ICT in the daily practice of healthcare professionals.