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Acceptance and use of Information Systems in Hospitals

Nterekas Alexios-Serafeim

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Summary

The main objectives of this dissertation are to examine the usage of social networks for professional purpose by medical personnel in public hospitals in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to explore the correlation between various factors which influence the use of these networks. An additional aim is to investigate the attitudes of medical personnel in public hospitals towards the use of social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece.Information systems in the healthcare sector are of major importance, as their implementation has contributed to the effective management of information in this sector. Healthcare information systems are characterized as a ''useful tool'' of data, and information, which after appropriate processing, can contribute to decision-making processes in healthcare. Social media have gained a distinct position in modern society as part of the most powerful communication tool, as instead of solely functioning as communication channels, social networks also serve as platforms where information is gathered, stored, processed and disseminated (Kietzmann et al., 2011). Moreover, they enable users to communicate, connect and interact, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience related to health, and medical practices (Ventola, 2014).Social networks, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, showed increased use which has allowed for improved communication, information exchange, and professional collaboration among healthcare professionals, despite the restrictions imposed due to urgent measures and movement limitations. Therefore, the relationship between social networks, and healthcare information systems is a significant factor, as it contributes to the effective management of information and facilitates communication between healthcare professionals, and patients.In this dissertation, the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is utilized it is successfully applied in the healthcare domain, and is characterized as a robust and powerful model.Following a literature review, a modified version of the TAM, incorporating the behavioural intention (BI) factor is presented. Thus, the modified TAM consists of five factors instead of the original four, namely, attitude (ATT), behavioural intention to use (BI), ease of use (PEoU), usefulness (PU), and actual use (AU).A five-point Likert scale questionnaire is employed for this research, in which a value of 5 corresponds to the most positive evaluation and a value of 1 corresponds to the most negative evaluation. Out of a total population of 350 doctors randomly selected from 6 public hospitals in Greece (General Hospital of Athens G. Gennimatas, General Hospital of Athens Evangelismos, General Hospital of Thessaloniki Papageorgiou, and University General Hospital of Thessaloniki AHEPA, as well as two hospitals in Thessaly), 328 doctors using social networks (Facebook and Twitter) respond to the questionnaire through personal interview during the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece, which lasted from January 18, 2021 to June 21, 2021 (National Public Health Organization-EODY). A total of 328 questionnaires are collected.Additional for this research, Twitter, and Facebook are selected as data sources due to their significant role during the COVID-19 pandemic. More specifically, these platforms facilitate the interconnection and exchange of information among citizens, healthcare professionals, as well as governmental and healthcare organizations. Particularly, doctors and other healthcare professionals use Faceboook, and Twitter in order to share personal experiences, concerns, and updates related to the pandemic, exchange information regarding the safety and effectiveness of implemented measures, and directly communicate with the general public to promote health and provide information regarding safety guidelines during the pandemic (Lwin et al., 2020; Merchant & Lurie, 2020). Furthermore, another reason the social networks Facebook, and Twitter are chosen is their popularity (2.9 billion users on Facebook, and 556 million users on Twitter), and their longest lifespan of nearly 20 years (Pew Research Center, 2018; Statista, 2019; datareportal, 2023). As noted in studies, Facebook is the most prevalent and popular social media platform in Greece, followed by Twitter, while LinkedIn ranks fourth and serves as the most popular professional networking website (Drosos et al., 2015; Papathanassopoulos, 2020).Subsequently, data processing, and analysis are conducted using the open- source statisticalsoftware PSPP v.1.4.1. During the results analysis stage, emphasis is placed, among other things, on the creating a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for each social network, from which valuable insights are derived regarding the influence of attitude factor over the use of social networks by doctors in public hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way this influence occurred. The data analysis using SEM is performed using the software Jamovi version 2.3.26.The results of this research indicate that half of the doctors who participate in the study report having been moderately active on social networks daily. They use social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic to read research findings posted by other researchers and doctors.Additionally, in our sample, the attitude factor (ATT) has negative correlations with the other factors: ease of use (PEoU), usefulness (PU), and behavioural intention to use (BI) of the TAM. Furthermore, strong positive correlations are found among the factors for both social networks. On Facebook, and Twitter, a strong positive correlation is observed between usefulness (PU), and ease of use (PEoU), between behavioural intention to use (BI), and ease of use (PEoU), and between actual use (AU), and ease of use (PEoU). Additionally, on Twitter, a strong positive correlation is found between behavioural intention to use (BI), and usefulness (PU), as well as between actual use (AU), and usefulness (PU). Furthermore, on Facebook, a strong positive correlation was found between actual use (AU), and behavioural intention to use (BI).Regarding the differences in the factors of the TAM (attitude and actual use) in the demographics and specialties of the doctors, significant differences are found.The results of the SEM method indicate that, on Facebook the attitude (ATT) towards actual use (AU) of social networks through the mediating factors usefulness (PU), ease of use (PEoU), and behavioural intention to use (BI). Attitude (ATT) has no statistically significant contribution to actual use (AU) and behavioural intention to use (BI) (Figure 15). For the social network Twitter, (ATT) towards the actual use (AU) of social networks. Attitude (ATT) has no statistically significant contribution toward ease of use (PEoU), and behavioural intention to use (BI) (Figure 16).Overall, the research shows that the medical staff of public hospitals in Greece uses social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic as a communication tool. In conclusion it can be inferred that social media networks can contribute in such conditions of high demands.

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