E-health readiness assessment methodology (EHRAM)

Abstract

E-Health is an application of information and communication technologies to promote healthcare services support, delivery and education. However, the implementation of E-Health represents a potentially disruptive change in the healthcare context. Consequently, resistance to change can occur at the individual level as well as at the organisational level. Prior to E-Health implementation, assessment of organisational readiness can reduce the risk of its failure after introduction. The success of an E-Health system is very much dependent on the success of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, as EHR forms the core of any E-Health system. This chapter (based on design science research methodology) presents an E-Health Readiness Assessment Methodology (EHRAM) from EHR perspective, which deals with the factors that need to be addressed in the planning of E-Health programmes and assists decision makers in the healthcare organisation to take action to address deficient areas of the readiness. EHRAM encompasses: (1) an E-Health Readiness Assessment Framework (EHRAF), (2) an assessment process, (3) data mining techniques for analysing the assessment data to arrive at a readiness score and (4) an automated tool for the implementation of EHRAM.