The politics of information and communication technology diffusion: A case study in a UK primary health care trust

Abstract

This paper investigates the politics of ICT diffusion and presents the findings from a pilot study conducted across general medical practices based within a Primary Care Trust in the North East of England. An overview is provided of the macro level politics of ICT adoption in a UK primary health care and the applicability of diffusion of innovation research within the healthcare context. A research approach, based on phenomenology, semi-structured interviews, and template analysis is adopted in the study in order to conduct and provide a rich analysis of the data. The findings are discussed using a modified diffusion of innovation framework. Conclusions highlight how ICT innovation is politically constrained, perceived, and motivated within primary healthcare environments and how in this case it might influence organizational resilience. © 2006 International Federation for Information Processing.