The adoption of healthcare information systems within public hospitals in Kurdistan region of Iraq

In Iraq, government reports stated that the ‎adoption of Healthcare Information Systems ‎‎(HIS) is still low and below the aspirations of the ‎government despite the investments in the system ‎development. For this reason, there was a need to ‎explore and investigate the actual issues that ‎influence the adoption of HIS, and to examine the ‎effect of different dimensions (i.e. the individual, ‎technological, organizational and environmental) ‎on the adoption of HIS in Iraq. The main objective of the study is to explore the ‎factors that affect the adoption of HIS among ‎healthcare practitioners within Kurdistan Region ‎of Iraq (KRI) public hospitals. Furthermore, ‎another goal was to examine the influence of ‎different dimensions on the healthcare ‎practitioners’ adoption behavior in order to ‎produce the essential knowledge regarding HIS ‎adoption. The study used a mixed method approach. The ‎data collection started with a qualitative study ‎using semi-structured interviews with eight ‎healthcare professionals and then followed by a ‎quantitative study that was conducted among 551 ‎respondents using self-administered ‎questionnaires. The qualitative study resulted in 26 themes that ‎were elicited from the interviews. Moreover, the ‎findings of the quantitative study indicated that ‎the adoption of HIS was significantly influenced ‎by different individual, technological, ‎organizational and the environmental dimensions ‎collectively. The study revealed the actual issues (i.e. the ‎individual, technological, organizational and ‎environmental) facing the adoption of HIS within ‎the study’s new context through the qualitative ‎investigation. Moreover, a comprehensive and ‎holistic model based on the Unified Theory of ‎Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) ‎was presented. The study presented the essential ‎knowledge and information to the literature, ‎healthcare practitioners and researchers in Iraq ‎regarding the issue of HIS adoption