Abstract
Background: With electronic technologies, patients are provided with tools to easily acquire information and to manage and record their own health status. eHealth interventions are already broadly applied to perioperative care. In a similar way, we aimed to utilize a smartphone application to enable postoperative patients to partially self-manage their postoperative pain. The results of a previously performed proof-of-concept study regarding the application were promising, and nurses as well as patients were optimistic regarding this innovative mobile application. Nevertheless, in reality, it appears that the usage and overall implementation of this application have stagnated since its introduction. Problems with innovation adoption are not novel; various studies have been conducted to explore the reasons for low implementation success of eHealth applications and indicated that adoption is influenced by multiple organizational factors. This study investigated the influence of these organizational factors on the adoption process, aiming to provide more insight in the dos and don'ts for implementing eHealth in the working processes of hospital care. Objective: This study aimed to provide insight in how to successfully implement a technological eHealth innovation in a general nonacademic hospital. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted to explore organizational factors affecting the innovation adoption process. Data were collected by conducting semistructured one-on-one interviews with 11 stakeholders. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis identifying overarching themes. Results: Absorptive capacity, referred to as an organization's dynamic capability pertaining to knowledge creation and utilization that enhances an organization's ability to gain and sustain a competitive advantage, was regarded as the most influential factor on the application's adoption. Accordingly, it appeared that innovation adoption is mainly determined by the capability and willingness to assimilate and transform new information into productive use and the ability to absorb a novel innovation. Absorptive capacity was found to be influenced by the innovation's benefit and the sense of ownership and responsibility. Organizational readiness and management support were also regarded as essential since absorptive capacity seemed to be mediated by these factors. The size of the hospital influenced eHealth adoption by the amount of resources available and by its organizational structure. Conclusions: In conclusion, absorptive capacity is essential for eHealth adoption, and it is mediated by management support and organizational readiness. It is recommended to increase the degree of willingness and ability to adopt an eHealth innovation by enhancing the relevance, engaging stakeholders, and assigning appropriate leaders to offer guidance.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Article number | e33706 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-9 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | JMIR human factors |
Volume | 9 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 26 Apr 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was established from the internship in Master Management, Policy-analysis and entrepreneurship in Health and Life Science of II at OLVG Hospital, Course code: AM_1120. The internship was conducted as part of the Closing the Loop study approved by the local medical ethics committee and board of OLVG (WO 19.167). Researchers II and BT contributed equally to the final version of this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© Bram Thiel, Inez Iao, Joris Smid, Emmy de Wit, Seppe Koopman, Bart Geerts, Marc Godfried, Cor Kalkman.
Keywords
- eHealth adoption model, mobile health
- innovation
- pain
- perioperative medicine
- postoperative pain
- self-report
- surgery