Use of Diffusion of Innovations Theory in Medical Informatics Research

Abstract

The authors examine the use of tenets of diffusion of innovations theory in the medical informatics literature to reveal how the theory has and can continue to provide a basis for scholars seeking to align their research with the theory. A content analysis method was used to examine over 2,000 journal articles from the fields of medical informatics, medicine, and information systems. The authors found that tenets of diffusion of innovations theory were prevalent in the literature. Although several theories are useful in explaining phenomenon in the domain of medical informatics, diffusion of innovation is one such theory that can be applicable to a vast amount of medical informatics research that is focused on new technologies or work processes.