Diffusion of mobile technology in healthcare

The introduction of information technology in healthcare has a high probability for failure. We are however seeing an emerging trend of individual healthcare professionals adopting mobile technology. Previous studies in the diffusion of technology have identified four types of adoption decisions: optional innovation-decision, collective innovation-decision, authority innovation-decision or contingent innovation-decision. The innovation decision by healthcare professionals is studied through the content analysis of three medical forums which are utilized by the early adopters of mobile computing. The content analysis shows that mostly optional innovation-decisions are made by individual healthcare professionals. There is some evidence that some healthcare organizations are making authority innovation decisions for a group of healthcare professionals. The paper highlights further research needed in the adoption of mobile technology by healthcare professionals.