A modified UTAUT model for hospital information systems geared towards motivating patient loyalty

Abstract

Healthcare service institutions (HSIs) have sought ways to motivate patient loyalty in response to surging rates of medical tourism. Previous research indicates that Hospital Information System (HIS) is essential for HSIs to gather, measure, and analyze the massive amounts of data required to generate patient loyalty. There is currently no consensus on the factors that comprise HIS specifically geared towards motivating patient loyalty (HISPL). Furthermore, HIS requires full adoption by HSI staff to be effective. Thus, to reduce wastage of HSI resources, it is necessary to predict whether a given HIS specifically geared towards motivating patient loyalty is likely to be adopted. The purpose of this study is to reveal the factors that comprise HISPL and to modify the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) model to help predict the likelihood of an HISPL to be fully adopted by HSI staff. The results revealed that pertinent HISPL factors are capability, configurability, ease of use/help desk availability and competence (EU), and accessibility/shareability (AS). Using these factors, the UTAUT model was modified to fit the specific needs of HISPL. The modifications are theoretical and will have to be validated in future empirical studies.