State of medical record systems and the adoption of cloud-based medical record system in public healthcare facilities in Free State

Abstract

Information technology (IT) innovations such as cloud computing has received interest from businesses and government. Cloud computing provides access to the network in a cost-effective and easy way, requiring less management. In health, cloud computing can help integrate EMR systems for the improvement of healthcare services by providing real-time access to patient data, the sharing of medical information, monitoring a patients’ health progress and access to medical data to conduct research. However, cloud computing adoption is still slow in the healthcare industry compared to other industries. In South Africa, cloud computing adoption has been very slow and most research on cloud adoption has been carried out in developed countries with very few studies conducted on emerging economies such as South Africa. This paper aims to determine the impact of demographics on the adoption of cloud computing as well as the state of the health information system in public healthcare facilities in the Free-State province. Data was collected through a questionnaire which was surveyed to thirty-one public healthcare facilities in Free State, South Africa. Results showed that the demographics have no impact on the intent to adopt a cloud-based medical record system.