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Cited by 459Electronic Health Records SystemsTechnology Adoption and User BehaviourInformation Systems Theories and Implementation

IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: a fit framework and a case study

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Ammenwerth, Elske, Iller, Carola, Mahler, Cornelia·2006·BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
DOI 10.1186/1472-6947-6-3PMC PMC1352353
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Abstract

Background: Factors of IT adoption have largely been discussed in the literature. However, existing frameworks (such as TAM or TTF) are failing to include one important aspect, the interaction between user and task. Method: Based on a literature study and a case study, we developed the FITT framework to help analyse the socio-organisational-technical factors that influence IT adoption in a health care setting. Results: Our FITT framework (" F it between I ndividuals, T ask and T echnology") is based on the idea that IT adoption in a clinical environment depends on the fit between the attributes of the individual users (e.g. computer anxiety, motivation), attributes of the technology (e.g. usability, functionality, performance), and attributes of the clinical tasks and processes (e.g. organisation, task complexity). We used this framework in the retrospective analysis of a three-year case study, describing the adoption of a nursing documentation system in various departments in a German University Hospital. We will show how the FITT framework helped analyzing the process of IT adoption during an IT implementation: we were able to describe every found IT adoption problem with regard to the three fit dimensions, and any intervention on the fit can be described with regard to the three objects of the FITT framework (individual, task, technology). We also derive facilitators and barriers to IT adoption of clinical information systems. Conclusion: This work should support a better understanding of the reasons for IT adoption failures and therefore enable better prepared and more successful IT introduction projects. We will discuss, however, that from a more epistemological point of view, it may be difficult or even impossible to analyse the complex and interacting factors that predict success or failure of IT projects in a socio-technical environment.

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  • The complex supply chains and convoluted communication processes between hospitals, local service providers, software suppliers, and NHS Connecting for Health persisted over time.

    “The complex supply chains and convoluted communication processes between hospitals, local service providers, software suppliers, and NHS Connecting for Health that we previously described, persisted over time.38”

    From Implementation and adoption of nationwide electronic health records in secondary care in England: final qualitative results from prospective national evaluation in early adopter hospitals (2011) · cites this paper as [38]

    The case-study and Discussion passages concern IT adoption in wards of a German university hospital, not the NHS supply chain. Searches for NHS Connecting for Health, local service providers, software suppliers, and persistent communication problems found no passage addressing the claim. Our copy has no page numbers for these passages. (LLM, conf=0.76)

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  • Empirical work may be necessary to determine whether new variables are relevant to health care and to contextualize them.

    “Although a purely theory-based approach—which might for instance add the compatibility variable from Rogers’ Innovation Diffusion Theory [63]—can be useful, empirical work may still be necessary to (a) determine whether those variables are relevant to health care, and (b) contextualize these new variables in order to determine, for example, what “compatibility” means in health care [57, 135].”

    From The Technology Acceptance Model: Its past and its future in health care (2010) · cites this paper as [57]

  • FITT postulates that the introduction of new technology leads to positive changes in care system only if the attributes of the user group, the characteristics of the implemented technology, and the affected tasks match each other.

    “FITT postulates that the introduction of new technology leads to positive changes in care system only if the attributes of the user group, the characteristics of the implemented technology, and the affected tasks match each other”

    From Demystifying theory and its use in improvement (2015) · cites this paper as [68]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Ammenwerth E Iller C Mahler C The interaction of task, technology and individuals - a theory of FITT Oral Presentation at the Information Technology in Health Care Conference (ITHC 2004), Sept 13 - 14 2004, Portland Published on Proceedings CD 2004

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Authors
Ammenwerth, E., Iller, C., & Mahler, C.
Affiliations
  • UMIT TIROL - Private University for Health Sciences and Health Technology (AT)
  • Heidelberg University (DE)
  • University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
Corresponding author
Ammenwerth, Elske
ORCID
Venue
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2006-01-09
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
3-3
ISSN
1472-6947 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1472-6947-6-3
PMC
PMC1352353
OpenAlex
W1480033610
Cited by
459
References
39
Citations by year
2026: 22 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 45 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 23
FWCI
29.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Electronic Health Records Systems
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
Keywords
information technology adoption, clinical information systems, computer anxiety, usability, task complexity, socio-technical factors, university hospital
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Computers, Decision Making, Diffusion of Innovation, Germany, Hospital Information Systems, Hospitals, University, Humans, Medical Informatics Computing, Motivation, Task Performance and Analysis, Technology, User-Computer Interface, Organizational Culture, Organizational Case Studies, Nursing Informatics

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