Critical information technology issues in Turkish healthcare

Abstract

While the importance of information technology in reducing soaring healthcare costs and enhancing service quality is increasingly being recognized, significant challenges remain in how it is implemented. Although there are a few studies investigating key IT issues in healthcare in advanced countries, there are virtually none in developing countries. We bridge this gap by investigating the critical information technology issues in healthcare facilities in Turkey. These issues are developed based on the opinions of senior hospital managers. The top ten issues include privacy, quality, security, and the implementation of electronic medical records. Further analyses provide additional insights into the results. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.