Poor Information Technology Research Articles

A pragmatic dialogue amongst stakeholders on the impact of COVID-19 on Irish cancer patients and healthcare services and lessons learned.

COVID-19 disrupted cancer care services in Ireland, from screening and diagnostics to treatments, possibly impacting physical health outcomes owing to delayed diagnosis and treatment changes. This study explores how cancer care and patients in Ireland were affected by COVID-19 from the perspective of Irish policy, clinical and patient stakeholders using a qualitative approach. The findings could inform future strategic and implementation plans forthe current challengesfaced and lessons learned will be identified. A thematic analysis of a multi-stakeholder online workshop representing policy and clinical and patient stakeholders was completed. The pandemic exasperated prior challenges including under-resourced services, access barriers, staff shortages and lack of interoperability in information technology (IT) systems. Overall, the measures implemented protected cancer patients from COVID-19; however, some groups were more vulnerable, with apparent demographic and socio-economic inequalities. Many hard-fought gains from the previous decade, in terms of cancer screening, diagnosis and survivorship, were eroded. As we transition to the peri-COVID-19 period, staff burnout, poor IT infrastructure and lack of good quality data must be addressed to minimise further disruptions and restore and enhance cancer services. Overall, innovations and measures adopted during the pandemic protected cancer patients; however, some groups were particularly vulnerable, and inequalities may have widened further. Only proven effective and efficient innovations introduced during the pandemic should be retained and enhanced. Good quality data is needed to inform such decisions when choosing amongst them.

COBIT 2019 INFORMATION SECURITY FOCUS AREA IMPLEMENTATION FOR REINSURCO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

As information technology (IT) advancement evolves in Indonesia's insurance sector, organizations like ReinsurCo must accelerate their digital transformation (DT) to remain competitively viable. Although DT paves the way for new business models and operational improvements, the implementation often fails due to poor IT governance. Under the supervision of the State-Owned Enterprises Agency (SOE) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), ReinsurCo must comply with regulations stating that SOEs must independently assess IT maturity to ensure information security. This research utilizes the five stages of Design Science Research (DSR): problem explication, requirement specification, design and development, demonstration, and evaluation. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and both internal and external document triangulation. The data were then analyzed using the COBIT 2019 Information Security framework, implementing design factors prioritizing information technology governance and management (ITGM) objectives: APO13 Managed Security, DSS05 Managed Security Services, and BAI06 Managed IT Changes. Further analysis and identification were conducted to discover gaps against the seven component capabilities. These identified gaps were mapped into people, process, and technology aspects, which led to the creation of essential improvement recommendations. These recommendations were compiled into an implementation roadmap that can serve as a priority guide for ReinsurCo. This research is expected to provide a knowledge base for prioritizing information security management in supporting DT by implementing the COBIT 2019 Information Security framework. In a practical context, it aids ReinsurCo in controlling its strategic plans to face information security challenges. Furthermore, this study also offers extensive benefits to the insurance industry.

Failed Tech Deployment Initiatives: Is Poor IT Governance to Blame?

Information Technology (IT) solutions have become a critical enabling tool in businesses and communities. As a result, organisations invest heavily in technology solutions to transform businesses. Motivated by rapid technological advancements, there have been radical changes in IT infrastructure management, IT applications, and IT services delivery. The recent COVID-19 pandemic also encouraged the rapid adoption of technology solutions. However, despite numerous prescriptive models and ‘best practice frameworks’ available in the field, and an increased uptake of ITG in organisations, achieving key ITG outcomes is consistently ranked as one of the top concerns of management. After establishing a theoretical foundation for effective ITG practices (via literature review), this study begins a pilot examination to determine if tech deployment failure can be attributed to poor ITG.

The significance of online learning in enhancing information technology literacy for Lubuklinggau City Vocational High School teachers

The use of Information Technology (IT) in State Vocational High School (SMK N) 4 Lubuklinggau city has not been greatly optimized. Similar deduction was obtained for existing learning facilities and media, despite wifi availability. Also, the motivation for learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically declined, due to poor IT literacy among teachers. This circumstance is possibly observed from the students’ attitudes in participating in online classes, using Google Classroom and WhatsApp platforms. The assessment commenced with a pre-test, followed by a training on strengthening IT literacy as well as the development of Google Classroom and Kahoot in online learning. Subsequently, independent assignments and evaluations were conducted. The results showed an acceptable performance, with materials on "Strengthening IT Literacy", "The Development of Google Classroom in Online Learning" and "The Development of Kahoot in Online Learning", reporting 81.30, 82.72 and 82.69% comprehension rate, respectively.

THE EVALUATION OF ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORD ADOPTION AMONG HEALTH PROFESSIONALS IN HOSPITAL SETTING

Background: Electronic Health Record (EHR) utilization has been improved nowadays and it is believed that the adoption of Information Technology (IT) that has been implemented in various setting may also accelerate qualified implementation in health care setting. This study aimed to evaluate EHR utilization in various settings by systemic literature review. Methods: systemic literature research was conducted with keywords “(evaluat* model OR evaluat* framework) AND (health professional* OR health staff*) AND (electronic health record OR EHR) AND (us* OR engagement OR implementation OR adoption) AND hospital”. Result: 833 literatures found at the beginning of literature search, after apply limitations, remove duplicates and exclude of irrelevant literatures, finally total 7 articles were included in the review. Conclusion: there are benefits and drawbacks of EHR utilization among health professional in different healthcare settings in some countries that included in this review. Some health professionals had positive experience of using EHR that its use can improve clinicians’ involvement, better clinicians’ representation and decrease workload. Meanwhile, others had different views that EHR use are ineffectiveness due to inability of the systems to meet users’ need, poor integration with existing workflows, poor IT skills among users and limited resources and training of EHR. Recommendation: Therefore, it is important to improve better design of EHR system with customized functionalities so it could improve the implementation and adoption of EHR by health professionals as end user.

Misunderstanding IT: Hospital cybersecurity and IT problems reach the courts

The corruption of patient data in a hospital prompted a criminal investigation, resulting in approximately 70 nurses being disciplined, with some charged with wilful neglect contrary to the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Some nurses received custodial sentences. This paper explains the background. The paper demonstrates the inability of hospital information technology (IT) systems and management to provide reliable evidence and highlights broad problems with poor IT culture affecting manufacturers, hospitals, police, lawyers, and advisors — all the way through to regulators and legislators. Widespread misunderstandings of IT and data compromises both the provision of effective care and legal processes. This paper includes recommendations, the most urgent being that hospitals (the UK National Health System (‘NHS’) and other national healthcare systems more generally) should acknowledge that IT is unreliable, and that they should procure and actively manage IT equipment with this in mind. Keeping up-to-date with legal issues relating to IT generally, as well as keeping up-to-date with cybersecurity measures should be routine. The NHS needs to improve its IT maturity, management and policies. The police, the legal system and regulators also need a more mature approach to IT. Manufacturers are not currently providing dependable systems that are fit for purpose to operate safely and reliably in normal, complex hospital environments. All parties should engage qualified external oversight.Index words: National Health Service, United Kingdom, State Medicine, cybersecurity, information technology, medical ethics

Outsourcing at Office Supply Inc.

This case is designed to teach how to structure information technology (IT) infrastructure outsourcing deals from both the outsourcer and the client perspective. Office Supply Incorporated (OSI) is a company in crisis, with challenges in its cost structure and poor IT performance. Outsourcing to Technology Infrastructure Solutions is an opportunity to both reduce costs and complexity for the firm, but students first must consider whether outsourcing is a good strategic fit for OSI. Detailed spreadsheet templates are given that are based on a real outsourcing client engagement for a major infrastructure outsourcing company. The spreadsheets are complex but have been simplified so that they automatically calculate when populated, allowing the students to quickly move to answering the management challenge: how should TIS price and structure the outsourcing deal? Answering this question provides deep insights into the business case for IT outsourcing and how outsourcers financially engineer a deal structure to ensure a win-win outcome for both the client and outsource service provider.Students will: Understand the strategic context of IT outsourcing and when it will benefit a firm; Understand IT infrastructure outsourcing and management issues such as personnel reductions and organizational change; Learn which outsourcing pricing model is the best fit for a project; Create a rigorous cost-benefit financial analysis and ROI model for IT infrastructure outsourcing; Analyze the model and learn how to financially engineer the deal to be a win-win for the outsourcer and client.

Is point of care testing in Irish hospitals ready for the laboratory modernisation process? An audit against the current national Irish guidelines

The Laboratory modernisation process in Ireland will include point of care testing (POCT) as one of its central tenets. However, a previous baseline survey showed that POCT was under-resourced particularly with respect to information technology (IT) and staffing. An audit was undertaken to see if POCT services had improved since the publication of National Guidelines and if such services were ready for the major changes in laboratory medicine as envisaged by the Health Service Executive. The 15 recommendations of the 2007 Guidelines were used as a template for a questionnaire, which was distributed by the Irish External Quality Assessment Scheme. Thirty-nine of a possible 45 acute hospitals replied. Only a quarter of respondent hospitals had POCT committees, however, allocation of staff to POCT had doubled since the first baseline survey. Poor IT infrastructure, the use of unapproved devices, and low levels of adverse incident reporting were still major issues. Point of care testing remains under-resourced, despite the roll out of such devices throughout the health service including primary care. The present high standards of laboratory medicine may not be maintained if the quality and cost-effectiveness of POCT is not controlled. Adherence to national Guidelines and adequate resourcing is essential to ensure patient safety.

Why do Microenterprise Refuse to Use Information Technology: A Case of Batik Microenterprises in Malaysia

The role of information technology (IT) in developing and enhancing businesses is undeniable. However, even though it is highly acknowledged that IT play a pivotal role in improving business operational efficiency and promoting business growth, IT adoption amongst microenterprises in Malaysia remains low. This paper investigates the reason for non-adoption of IT amongst microenterprises before embarking into strategies to promote a better IT use for improved business performance. A qualitative study was conducted to identify the poor IT adoption amongst Malaysian microenterprises. As batik making is a national concern for its high-valued heritage essences, the study covered batik microenterprises. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with five batik microenterprises. From the analysis, it was found that attitude, awareness, inadequate knowledge and skills and funds play a major role in IT adoption amongst them. These findings will become important considerations for future study on IT adoption strategies for microenterprise in terms of devising intervention programs to assist them to adopt IT in their business operation.

Information Technology Use in Community Pharmacies in Harare, Zimbabwe

Information technology (IT) has transformed the practice of pharmacy worldwide. This study was undertaken to determine the pharmacists\' IT use, utilization patterns and their opinions regarding IT use. The majority of pharmacies had networked computers (71.7%) and internet connections (60.9%). Pharmacists had poor knowledge of IT (mean rating score = 2.28 ± 0.83) and limited knowledge of the available online resources. The majority of pharmacists used Google for internet literature searches. About 78.1% of pharmacists agreed/strongly agreed that IT had a role to play in pharmacy practice. Internet surfing (89.1%), web browser navigation (67.4%) and advanced e-mail management skills (58.7%) were the most cited pharmacists\' future needs. Harare community pharmacists were found to have poor IT knowledge and generally under utilize IT. More structured informatics training should be given to pharmacists and pharmacy students to better their knowledge and utilization of IT. Keywords: Information technology, pharmacy, Harare, Zimbabwe East and Central African Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences Vol. 10 (2) 2007: pp. 45-49

IT-based activity in physiology education: an experience from a developing country

Information technology (IT)-based components are included as active learning activities in medical curricula that have been shown to be more effective than most passive learning activities. In developing countries, these activities are not popular compared with developed countries. In this study, an IT-based assignment was carried out in physiology for undergraduates in Sri Lanka. We assessed certain basic IT capabilities before the assignment and found that the capability of using MS Word, e-mail, and the internet was limited to 68.3%, 62.0%, and 49.2% of students, respectively, with 40.8% of students having some other IT capabilities. We found a considerable variation in IT capabilities among the students, which depended on IT learning at schools and the geographical locations where students came from. The main source of IT knowledge for students was an introductory IT course given in the medical school with the second source being private IT learning centers. Response to the IT-based assignment was very poor. The reasons for poor participation included a lack of time due to parallel subjects, poor IT knowledge, and poor IT resource availability. However, students were willing to have optional IT-based components and were aware that IT knowledge is important for medical students as well as doctors. This study shows the importance of improving IT knowledge in students and the need of improving IT resources in medical schools. With these improvements, physiology education can be enriched with more interactive IT-based learning activities, which help students to acquire knowledge more efficiently and effectively in developing countries like Sri Lanka.

Information technology strategies for Africa's survival in the twenty‐first century: IT all pervasive

Abstract This paper discusses the status of information technology (IT), at national, organisational and individual levels, as we approach the twenty‐first century. The paper is written within the context of developing countries, particularly Africa, and identifies some of the common problems and constraints militating against effective IT adoption and utilisation in these countries, such as low IT literacy, inadequate human resource capacity for IT development, inadequate information and communication infrastructures, absence of action oriented national IT policies, poor IT delivery by vendors, lack of co‐operation among and within countries, etc. The paper asserts that in the twenty‐first century, IT will inevitably pervade all aspects of our lives and, as such, there is need to prepare ourselves at national, organisational and individual levels. Strategies for such preparation are suggested. The paper cites some success stories in harnessing IT for socio‐economic development with reference to the area ...