title: Health: IT leader or laggard? A comparative assessment of IT maturity.
abstract: The health industry has acquired a reputation as lagging in the use of IT. This reputation is usually based upon the relatively narrow measure of comparative IT expenditure, often examined as a proportion of total revenue. This study has been undertaken to assess health's use of IT using a broader frame of reference. The health industry was compared to the banking industry, on the basis that the banking industry is widely perceived as a leading IT user. The research confirmed that in these two 'knowledge' industries, health is slower to adopt IT with an apparent lower maturity level. This was the case across a range of best practice management, procedural and cultural topics as well as in the level of resources applied to IT.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Public Health Research, School of Public Health, Queensland University of Technology.
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: England
authors.forename: Don
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D001292:Attitude to Computers; D001315:Australia; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018581:Technology Transfer; D014584:User-Computer Interface