title: Healthcare professionals' organisational barriers to health information technologies-a literature review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This literature review identifies and categorises, from an organisational management perspective, barriers to the use of HIT or ICT for health. Based on the review, it offers policy interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  This systematic literature review was carried out during December 2009 and January 2010. Additional on-going reviews of updates through automated system alerts took place up until this paper was submitted. A total of thirty-one sources were searched including nine software platforms/databases, fifteen specialised websites/targeted databases, Google Scholar, ISI Science Citation Index and five journals hand-searched.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study covers seventy-nine articles on organisational barriers to ICT adoption by healthcare professionals. These are categorised under five main headings - (I) Structure of healthcare organisations; (II) Tasks; (III) People policies; (IV) Incentives; and (V) Information and decision processes. A total of ten subcategories are also identified. By adopting an organisational management approach, some recommendations to remove organisational management barriers are made.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite their apparent promise, health information technologies (HIT) have proved difficult to implement. This systematic review reveals the implementation barriers associated to organisational management and their interrelations. Several important future directions in the field are also suggested: (1) there is a need for further research providing evidence of HIT cost-effectiveness as well as the development of optimal HIT applications; (2) more information is needed regarding organisational change, incentives, liability issues, end-users HIT competences and skills, structure and work process issues involved in realising the benefits from HIT. Future policy interventions should consider the five dimensions identified when addressing the impact of HIT in healthcare organisational systems, and how the impact of an intervention aimed at a particular dimension would interrelate with others.
authors: LSE Health, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK. m.lluch@lse.ac.uk
authors: Maria
authors: M
authors: Lluch
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics; D011364:Professional Practice / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data