Minitrack Introduction

This minitrack focuses on the role of adoption, implementation, diffusion, and evaluation factors and the interaction of these factors at various levels to healthcare system success. These topics continue to present challenges to organizations, society in general, and the research community. IT is seen as an enabler of change in healthcare organizations both nationally and locally. However, IT adoption decisions in healthcare are complex given a multitude of technologies, stakeholders, and potential levels of analysis. The papers in this minitrack convey the complexity and breadth of issues in addressing diffusion within this domain. Papers are dispersed in the technology of interest (e.g. telehealth, mobile computing, clinical information system) and level of analysis (e.g. individual, organizational, national). The collection of papers also conveys the breadth of research approaches relevant to the study of adoption, implementation, diffusion, and evaluation in the health care context. Research methods include Delphi procedures, surveys, interviews, and longitudinal case studies. Each method provides a unique perspective for analyzing adoption, implementation, and evaluation issues.