A Picture Archive and Communication System (PACS) is a health information technology that facilitates the electronic storage, transmission, presentation and processing of digital medical-imaging datasets. The benefits of PACS have been well-documented. It provides a means to replace traditional film-based workflows and their inherent limitations. Referring clinicians’ acceptance is a critical factor in the overall success of a PACS implementation; and given the financial implications of project failure, research into physician acceptance and meaningful use is crucial. Very few PACS acceptance studies have focused on the referring clinicians, and even less in the context of the private sector. Therefore, the problem that this research aims to address is: There is a lack of understanding on which factors influence PACS acceptance and the meaningful use thereof by referring clinicians in private practice. This explorative study follows an embedded mixed methodology approach in order to meet the research objectives, favouring a qualitative method of inquiry with the support of a quantitative strand. Electronic questionnaires were distributed to private practice referring clinicians to probe the aspects related to PACS acceptance and its meaningful use. The conceptual framework, as devised by Paré and Trudel (2007), was used as a theoretical lens to categorize and discuss the research results in terms of Project, Technological, Organizational and Behavioural factors that affect PACS acceptance and its meaningful use. The findings showed good acceptance rates, which is in line with other research conducted in this field, including research done in the public sector. Technical and Organizational factors were the most prevalent. An extension of the above-mentioned theoretical framework was proposed to assist in maintaining positive results after the project Implementation phase has been completed. This research expands the Information Technology PACS body of knowledge – by identifying both the technical and the non-technical factors that are crucial in private practice referring doctor acceptance and meaningful use. By addressing these factors, institutions can improve the likelihood of PACS project success in private practice settings. Maximising referring doctor acceptance and meaningful use could also give private practices a competitive advantage over their competitors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:20648 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | D'Assonville, Gustav Andre |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MTech |
| Format | xv, 127 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds