Acceptance of health information systems in Sri Lanka using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis

Abstract

The global doctor-patient ratio is 17 per 1000 population, however, it is 1.23 per 1000 population in Sri Lanka [1]. As it is far behind the expected numbers, the Sri Lankan public health sector is facing challenges in providing efficient services to citizens free of charge, including surgeries and cancer treatments. Looking at Nordic countries adoption of HIS has reached 95%-100% and the health sector has been digitalized using powerful Health Information Systems (HIS) in the form of Electronic Health Records (EHR), Personal Health Records (PHR), and Electronic Medical Records (EMR). The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has launched various initiatives to digi-talize the public health sector and trailed Hospital Health Management Information Systems (HHMIS). However, it is noted that the acceptance of HIS is low among healthcare stakeholders. The empirical findings suggest the main reasons for low acceptance could be issues relating to usability. Therefore, this study is focused on identifying the factors impacting the acceptance of HIS by doctors and nurses in the public health sector.