Measuring the effects of electronic government services and corrupt practices on information exchange: a comparison of public and private hospitals
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 11 October 2023
Issue publication date: 13 November 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Health Information Exchange (HIE) is essential for the efficient and cost-effective delivery of health-care services. The provider’s administrative structure and external environment can substantially influence adopting technologies involving inter-organizational linkages, such as HIE. Using the theoretical lens of institutional theory, this study aims to compare how public and private hospitals' engagement in HIE is influenced by corruption and government online services or e-government usage.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses the positivist research design of secondary data analysis to test the six hypotheses proposed. Data from multiple third-party reliable sources, including the European Commission and World Bank, are combined into the final dataset consisting of observations from 1,442 hospitals across 30 countries in Europe. A multilevel modeling approach is used to associate country and hospital-level variables and test the hypothesis.
Findings
The study finds that, on average, a 10% increase in corruption leads to a 6.3% decrease, while a 10% increase in e-government leads to a 7% increase in the probability of HIE engagement for a hospital. The negative impact of corruption on average is 18% more in public than private hospitals, while the positive impact of e-government is 75% stronger in public in comparison to private hospitals. The study also finds that HIE engagements in health systems with predominantly public hospitals are more sensitive to corruption and e-government.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is one of the first to use the institutional view to test the influence of government actions and public providers' concentration on HIE engagement. The comparison of public and private institutions enriches our understanding of promoters and inhibitors of HIE.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declaration of competing interest: The authors report no declarations of interest.
Citation
Shrivastava, U., Han, B., Daneshvar Kakhki, M. and Tarn, J.M. (2023), "Measuring the effects of electronic government services and corrupt practices on information exchange: a comparison of public and private hospitals", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 488-509. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-06-2023-0083
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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