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WhatsApp in hospital? An empirical investigation of individual and organizational determinants to use.

ABSTRACT: The increasing use of messaging applications such as WhatsApp for both social and personal purposes has determined an increase in the widespread use of these technologies, even in healthcare. A growing number of healthcare professionals have adopted WhatsApp in their daily work in order to share information with peers and patients. Past research has highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of WhatsApp usage in healthcare settings; in particular two positions appear to coexist in the scientific debate: those that expose and underline all of the positive aspects of the phenomenon, and those which also highlight the negative aspects, linked in particular to the clinical risks for patients, data security and privacy protection. The main objective of this study was to assess if and how individual and organizational determinants can trigger or inhibit the use of WhatsApp in a hospital setting, and which variables managers can exploit to guide professionals' behaviors. Data were collected through a survey administered to physicians and nurses in an Italian University Hospital in Rome; a total of 191 high-quality responses were received. The results show that WhatsApp is widely used in the Hospital, and that its use is mainly due to the perception of numerous advantages and benefits reported in clinical practice. Moreover, an interplay exists between organizational and individual factors in determining the use of WhatsApp between healthcare professionals and with patients. In particular, individual factors play a key role as determinants of the use of WhatsApp; healthcare professionals use this technology mainly based on its perceived usefulness. Instead, organizational factors play a secondary role; they do not have a direct influence on the use of WhatsApp, but always act through individual factors. This study is the first to analyses the influence of individual and organizational determinants of WhatsApp usage in the hospital setting, and provides hospital managers with important information in order to manage this phenomenon and implement adequate strategies to exploit its potential increase.

SUBMITTER: De Benedictis A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6329505 | biostudies-other | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BackgroundThere seems to be a consensus that a vision for an organization is a valuable thing for organizations to have. However, research on organizational vision has predominantly been studied from a leadership perspective. In contrast to previous research, organizational vision in this paper takes an employee perspective. Specifically, the purpose is to examine factors associated with the integration of organizational vision among employees in hospital organizations. Consequently, it focuses on a relatively neglected domain within health services research.MethodsA conceptual model, centred on the concept of organizational vision integration, was developed and tested on a sample (N = 1008) consisting of hospital employees. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypotheses, using SmartPLS 3 software. Furthermore, a bootstrapping test was used to inspect potential mediating effects. Specifically, the test assessed whether the proposed direct and indirect effects were statistically significant, and at the same time revealed the nature of the mediation effect.ResultsThe results from the empirical study reveal three key findings: i) organizational vision integration among employees is directly and positively related to creative performance in their respective work role (β = 0.16). Organizational vision integration and employees' psychological capital explains almost 40% (R2 = 0.36) in employees' creative performance, ii) psychological capital and employees' perception of organizational attractiveness are directly and positively related to employees' organizational vision integration (β = 0.19 and β = 0.40, respectively) and explains about 30% (R2 = 0.29) of employees' organizational vision integration, iii) employees' organizational vision integration mediates the relationship between employees' psychological capital, perception of organizational attractiveness and employees' creative performance.ConclusionsTaking an employee perspective, this study contributes to revealing whether and how organizational vision matters and its impact on hospital employees' work performance. To achieve organizational vision integration among hospital employees successfully, this study shows that it is important for hospital leaders to be aware of the pattern of impact of both personal as well as environmental-related factors.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The potential benefit of mobile health (M-Health) in developing countries for improving the efficiency of health care service delivery, health care quality, and patient safety, as well as reducing cost, has been increasingly recognized and emphasized in the last few years. OBJECTIVE:Limited research has investigated the facilitators and barriers for the adoption of M-Health in developing countries to secure successful implementation of the technology. To fill this knowledge gap, we propose an integrative model that explains the patient's adoption behavior of M-Health in developing countries grounded on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, dual-factor model, and health belief model. METHOD:We empirically tested and evaluated the model based on data collected using a survey method from 280 patients living in a developing country. Partial least squares (PLS-SEM) technique was used for data analysis. RESULTS:The results showed that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, perceived health threat, M-Health app quality, and life quality expectancy have a direct positive effect on patients' intention to use M-Health. The results also showed that security and privacy risks have a direct negative effect on the patient's intention to use M-Health. However, resistance to change was found to have an indirect negative effect on patients' intention to use M-Health through the performance expectancy. CONCLUSION:The research contributes to the existing literature of health information systems and M-Health by better understanding how technological, social, and functional factors are associated with digital health applications and services use and success in the context of developing countries. With the widespread availability of mobile technologies and services and the growing demand for M-Health apps, this research can help guide the development of the next generation of M-Health apps with a focus on the needs of patients in developing countries. The research has several theoretical and practical implications for the health care industry, government, policy makers, and technology developers and designers.

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WhatsApp in hospital? An empirical investigation of individual and organizational determinants to use.

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