Paradox of e-health: Computer usage assessment among the staff in a government hospital

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of computers in a government hospital. Specifically, what is level of acceptance or usage of computer technology in the healthcare arena. Based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), other independent variables measured were training program, functional department, usefulness and ease of use. A cross-sectional survey design was employed for this research where 150 (n=150) hospital employees at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, Selangor were the units of analyses. Eighty-three or 58.3% completed questionnaires were returned. The results indicated that computer usage among the hospital staff is moderately high ( =4.16) where most of the respondents only use the computer between one to two hours per day. In this Digital Era and with many government initiatives such as the tele-health flagship, non usage of computers meant that some hospital staff would be technology laggards and their career prospects would be dim as most health and medical processes in government hospitals in Malaysia have already been automated and digitized. Furthermore, by identifying these stumbling blocks, hospital administrators would be able to plan the necessary training programs to improve their staff’s computer skills and change their attitude towards technology adoption.