Challenges to healthcare information systems development: The case of Jordan.

This paper investigates the perception of healthcare providers in regard to the challenges that hinder the development of e-health initiative in Jordan based on a classification of challenges that was developed from the pre-existing literature. Twenty-six semi-structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders of the e-health system. These challenges are Lack of Regulations and Policies to Support Health Information Systems, lack of financial resources, Privacy Concerns, and Nature of Healthcare Sector. The paper concludes that all of the unique findings that emerged in this paper are directly related to human and cultural issues. These two aspects appear to have a huge impact on the development of the e-health in Jordan. In order to ensure a smooth transformation of health services delivery and as an outcome and contribution of this paper to the managers and decision makers in the healthcare sector, a few findings were highlighted and could be of great value to people in charge of e-health initiatives these include: proper laws and policies that support the e-health development, secure the necessary needed funds, addressing privacy concerns of stakeholders, and standardization of e-health development. This paper serves as one of the newest interpretive studies that empirically explore the challenges to e-health in Jordan. It also attempts to bridge the gap found in the existing literature as it investigates the key issues that affect the development of e-health in Jordan from a different angle that was not adequately looked at and discussed previously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]