title: Healthcare technologies, quality improvement programs and hospital organizational culture in Canadian hospitals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Healthcare technology and quality improvement programs have been identified as a means to influence healthcare costs and healthcare quality in Canada. This study seeks to identify whether the ability to implement healthcare technology by a hospital was related to usage of quality improvement programs within the hospital and whether the culture within a hospital plays a role in the adoption of quality improvement programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study of Canadian hospitals was conducted in 2010. The sample consisted of hospital administrators that were selected by provincial review boards. The questionnaire consisted of 3 sections: 20 healthcare technology items, 16 quality improvement program items and 63 culture items.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Rasch model analysis revealed that a hierarchy existed among the healthcare technologies based upon the difficulty of implementation. The results also showed a significant relationship existed between the ability to implement healthcare technologies and the number of quality improvement programs adopted. In addition, culture within a hospital served a mediating role in quality improvement programs adoption.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Healthcare technologies each have different levels of difficulty. As a consequence, hospitals need to understand their current level of capability before selecting a particular technology in order to assess the level of resources needed. Further the usage of quality improvement programs is related to the ability to implement technology and the culture within a hospital.
authors.affiliation: Department of Logistics and Operations Management, HEC Montréal, 3000, Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, Québec H3T 2A7, Canada. rajesh-kumar.tyagi@hec.ca.
authors.forename: Rajesh K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Tyagi
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olson
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Belohlav
mesh_terms: D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006739:Hospital Administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006740:Hospital Administrators; D006801:Humans; D015279:Organizational Culture; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires