Organizational factors in the implementation of end user computing systems in Ohio hospitals

The volatility of the current environment in healthcare demands a view of information as a resource. Improving patient care and productivity, managing financial concerns, maintaining a competitive advantage, and abiding by the regulations of accreditation agencies have made the implementation or upgrade of hospital information systems an industry wide priority. However, before a healthcare organization puts an information system in place, assessment of the internal and external influences on the system must occur. Hospitals must nurture those influences that directly contribute to the success of the system and change or eliminate those that impede or disrupt success. This dissertation will examine organizational and extra organizational factors that contribute to the successful implementation of hospital information systems.;The first step was the construction of a framework in which to conduct the research. A review of literature within the fields of Management Information and Hospital Information Systems led to the adoption of a framework and the delineation of the factors necessary for successful implementation. The concept of success in the context of the computer user was defined.;The second step in the research was the collection of basic demographic and organizational factor data using an author designed questionnaire, Demographic and System Description Questionnaire (DSDQ). Hospitals responding positively received Computer's User's Satisfaction surveys that collected information about the attitudes of clinical users toward their information systems.;Statistical analysis yielded results that a majority of the null hypotheses were accepted. This indicates that an appropriate measure of success of an information system in a hospital must be individualized to the organization and to the various system users. Organizational factors do impact on the ability of a hospital to successfully implement an information system but must be viewed for a single hospital, at a single point in time---not generalized to all hospitals at all points in time.