A model for ehealth adoption in Uganda : a case of Smartlink

Abstract

The adoption of ehealth can potentially enhance healthcare performance in Uganda because of benefits like reduced errors in patient records, information sharing across healthcare providers, enhancement of e-commerce in health, reduced paperwork, reduced costs, access to up-to-date health information, e-prescriptions, clinical decision support systems, organized information sharing among departments, enhanced administrative systems, and efficient maintenance of hospital services. Despite the above benefits, there is still low adoption of ehealth systems and this has created a big gap in healthcare delivery. The low adoption has been brought about by many factors including lack of management support, lack of financial support, failure to realize the benefits of ehealth, incomplete implementation, high cost of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and lack of trust in ehealth systems. The main objective of this study was to design a model for e-Health adoption in Uganda, a case of Smartlink that would explain the adoption of ehealth in Uganda. Using a cross sectional survey, the researcher sampled 246 participants from the healthcare facilities that use Smartlink using the Taro Yamane formula. Data was collected using a questionnaire distributed among the selected participants using an online link and the valid response rate was 82%. The study extended an ehealth adoption framework for developing countries by incorporating factors such as security, benefits and innovation to support e-Health adoption in Uganda. The study revealed several factors for e-health adoption in Uganda and key findings indicated that management support, organizational factors, socio-cultural factors, technology, socio-demographic factors, financial factors, ethical & legal factors, benefits, security and innovation positively influence e-health adoption. The findings also revealed that full adoption of e-health combination of many factors that must be well balanced to achieve the intended goal and by addressing these factors, stakeholders can enhance the adoption and effectiveness of eHealth solutions, ultimately leading to better health outcomes and a more efficient healthcare system. In order to enhance the adoption of e-health in Uganda, the study recommends a longitudinal study that would provide robust data on the long-term effectiveness, engagement, and impact of digital health interventions. This would further provide insights that are crucial for developing, refining, and scaling eHealth solutions to improve health outcomes, enhance user experience, and inform ehealth adoption policies.