[Informaticopia] IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: a fit framework and a case study

[Nursing Informatics News]

BioMed Central | Abstract | 1472-6947-6-3 | IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: a fit framework and a case study

This interesting paper (Ammenwerth, E., Iller, C. and Mahler, C. 2006 IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: a fit framework and a case study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2006, 6:3 doi:10.1186/1472-6947-6-3 )presents a case for the FITT framework ("Fit between Individuals, Task and Technology") which builds on earlier work eg technology acceptance model (TAM) of Davis as extended by Dixon into the Information Technology Adoption Model (ITAM).
They studied the implementation of nursing information systems in five different areas of a German Hospital and tried to examine the factors which influenced the "success" of the new systems.
I feel that the model they propose could be useful in understanding how the different factors ie "attributes of the individual users (e.g. computer anxiety, motivation), attributes of the technology (e.g. usability, functionality, performance), and attributes of the clinical tasks and processes (e.g. organisation, task complexity), could be useful.
However, I find one of their general conclusions that "that from an epistemological point of view, it may be difficult or even impossible to analyse the complex and interacting factors that predict success or failure of IT projects in a socio-technical environment", worrying as it forms the basis of several of my current projects which aim to examine individual attributes and motivation towards Information Technology in healthcare settings.
Technorati Tags: health informatics, FITT, TAM,

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