Readiness assessment of information integration in a hospital using an analytic network process method for decision-making in a healthcare network

Abstract

This study contributes to the promotion of healthcare information integration and readiness assessment of the factors impacted by quality improvement in hospital performance, which is beneficial for developing the healthcare industry because errors or integrated information can significantly affect the safety of patients and their confidence in the healthcare system. This research method is proposed to identify and confirm capability factors after readiness assessment with empirical testing, and the data were collected from hospitals in Thailand. An analytic network process was used as a tool for calculating and testing the readiness assessment of the integrated information results. The results show factor improvement of information integration and effects on the performance of hospitals in the healthcare industry. Three capability factors were found to have a significant impact on information integration and hospital performance. The model analysis suggests that the identified capability factors (organizational, group and individual) should be improved with regard to information integration, which is used to evaluate performance in the healthcare industry, and this risk assessment may be useful in other relevant industries.