ABSTRACT
Technology has become a critical catalyst for businesses transformation. Applications such as mobile health, telehealth communication, social media and e-record systems have emerged to support health organisations in delivering healthcare to patients. Unfortunately, there is an emerging “myopic” phenomenon that healthcare technology is only about the physical constituents, thus neglecting the informational component. This syndrome is evident in most parts of the sub-Saharan African region. Consequently, organisations have not taken full advantage of the benefits associated with the new technologies. This situation has prompted scholarly calls for a consolidated understanding of how healthcare delivery organisations can integrate technologies into service creation, delivery and consumption, and the associated benefits. Empirical analysis shows that healthcare institutions that integrate technologies such as social media, mHealth, e-records and telemedicine significantly improve patients’ access to healthcare. To achieve this result, health institutions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, should consider technology from four perspectives: technology as an artefact, as management and information, as a process, and as a dimension of the organisation. Hence, healthcare delivery institutions should improve their resource allocation and integrate these dimensions into their health delivery infrastructure.
