Determinants of Success of Inpatient Clinical Information Systems: A Literature Review

Abstract

We reviewed the English and Dutch literature on evaluations of patient care information systems that require data entry by health care professionals published from 1991 to 2001. Our objectives were to identify attributes that were used to assess the success of such systems and to test the ability of a framework developed by Delone and McLean for management information systems(1) to categorize these attributes correctly. The framework includes six dimensions or success factors: system quality, information quality, usage, user satisfaction, individual impact, and organizational impact. Thirty-three papers were selected for complete review. Types of study design included descriptive, correlational, comparative, and case studies. A variety of relevant attributes could be assigned to the six dimensions in the Delone and McLean framework, but some attributes, predominantly in cases of failure, did not fit any of the categories. They related to contingent factors, such as organizational culture. Our review points out the need for more thorough evaluations of patient care information systems that look at a wide range of factors that can affect the relative success or failure of these systems.

A quantitative analysis of the impact of a computerised information system on nurses’ clinical practice using a realistic evaluation framework

“…The complexity of IT evaluation research and the recommendations made from previous studies, such as the importance of taking into account context variables and the use of multiple methods for a wider approach [4,6,7,8], make realistic evaluation a promising approach to IT evaluation research [9]. Grounded on theory-based evaluation research, realistic evaluation understands causality in terms of generative mechanisms; causal relationships are not straightforward, as context factors can modify outcomes: mechanisms should be in the right context to produce the expected outcomes [10].…”

End-user support for primary care electronic medical records: a qualitative case study of users’ needs, expectations, and realities

“…Second, previous studies suggest that the use of EMRs improve information quality, and especially its completeness, legibility, availability, and timeliness (van der Meijden et al, 2003;Yusof et al, 2008). However, concerns have been raised that the quality of data in health information systems is not optimal (Arts et al, 2002).…”

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