Exploratory study to understand the phenomena of adoption of wireless handheld devices in the Australian healthcare system

Abstract

According to an Australian department of health and aging (www.health.gov.au), adoption of new technologies is crucial in addressing health issues. Currently, wireless technology is used in Australian healthcare with limited scope addressing specific aspects of quality of service offered to various stakeholders. While prior studies agree that wireless applications have the potential to address the endemic problems of healthcare, very limited information can be found about the determinants of such applications. Therefore, there is a need to identify factors that assist in the adoption of wireless applications in healthcare and the factors acting as barriers for the uptake of wireless applications. In doing so, this study used focus group discussions and a survey method to accomplish the requirements of this study. The study was structured in two specific phases. The first phase of the study involved conducting focus group discussion sessions with selected healthcare professionals to explore their views and opinion regarding factors involved in the adoption of wireless handheld devices as applicable to the Australian healthcare environment. The second phase involved administering a survey instrument to generalize the findings of phase one for the wider community and to capture the views of the wider population. The initial outcomes of the study indicate that organizational readiness, technical readiness, clinical practice, social aspects as well as compatibility of new hardware with existing system playing a crucial role in the adoption of wireless handheld devices in eh Australian healthcare systems.