If the document is published under a Creative Commons, enter link to the license here]

PurposeService oriented architecture (SOA) is increasingly adopted by many sectors, including healthcare. Due to the nature of healthcare systems, there is a need to increase SOA adoption success rates as the non‐integrated nature of healthcare systems is responsible for medical errors that cause the loss of tens of thousands of patients per year. Although numerous factors affect SOA success, these have not been explored and analysed yet, especially in the area of healthcare. This highlights a literature void and thus the purpose of this paper is to identify critical success factors (CSFs) influencing SOA implementation in healthcare.Design/methodology/approachThe authors critically review the literature and identify individual factors that may form CSFs for SOA implementation in healthcare. In doing so, they synthesise and propose a conceptual model of SOA CSFs in healthcare. The conceptual model is tested in the practical arena using a qualitative research methodology that is based on a case study strategy.FindingsThe empirical findings verify the proposed model and reveal that an additional SOA CSF in healthcare does exist. It is also revealed that the proposed model helped the case organization to successfully implement an SOA solution.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications that derive from this article are important for both theory and practice. At a practical level, the paper delivers a model that can be used as a decision‐making tool by professionals when they implement SOA solutions in healthcare. At a theoretical level, the proposed model extends the body of knowledge on this area and opens new avenues for research. From another point of view, it is suggested that further research is required on this area as the proposed conceptual model was tested only through a single case study. Thus, multiple case studies or other types of research strategies should be used to better test the proposed model.Originality/valueThis work is original and focuses on CSFs related to SOA implementations in healthcare organizations. The work can be considered as novel as it identifies and classifies SOA CSFs for solutions that have been developed in the area of healthcare.

No abstract

This paper details the motivations, design, and analysis of a study using a fine motor skill training task in both VR and physical conditions. The objective of this between-subjects study was to (a) investigate the effectiveness of immersive virtual reality for training participants in the 'buzz-wire' fine motor skill task compared to physical training and (b) investigate the link between participants' arousal with their improvements in task performance. Physiological arousal levels in the form of electro-dermal activity (EDA) and ECG (Electrocardiogram) data were collected from 87 participants, randomly distributed across the two conditions. Results indicated that VR training is as good as, or even slightly better than, training in physical training in improving task performance. Moreover, the participants in the VR condition reported an increase in self-efficacy and immersion, while marginally significant differences were observed in the presence and the temporal demand (retrieved from NASA-TLX measurements). Participants in the VR condition showed on average less arousal than those in the physical condition. Though correlation analyses between performance metrics and arousal levels did not depict any statistically significant results, a closer examination of EDA values revealed that participants with lower arousal levels during training, across conditions, demonstrated better improvements in performance than those with higher arousal. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of VR in training and the potential of using arousal and training performance data for designing adaptive VR training systems. This paper also discusses implications for researchers who consider using biosensors and VR for motor skill experiments.

No abstract