Exploring the Determinants of PAS, EDMS, and PACS Adoption in European Hospitals

Using data available in two microdatabases - the e-Business Watch survey 2006 and the European Hospital Survey (2012-2013) – the study reported in this paper explores the determinants that lead to the adoption of three of the most commonly used Health Information Systems (HIS) in European Hospitals: Patient Administration Systems (PAS), Electronic Documents Management Systems (EDMS), and Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS). For statistical analysis and modeling purposes, the original variables in the two surveys were transformed into binary variables. In order to explore the determinants of system adoption, Probit models were built taking into consideration the following explanatory variables or predictors: public ownership; hospital size; and human resources allocated to Research and Development. It has been found that being a public hospital, particularly in recent years, has a negative impact on HIS adoption. Hospital size is one of the main positive predictors of HIS adoption. The impact of human resources allocated to R&D is also a determinant of HIS adoption, but less so in recent years.