The Business Value of Health IT: Towards a Multidimensional Perspective

For more than two decades, research on the business value of information technology (IT) has made important contributions to our understanding of the operational and financial dimensions of value. Organisations continue to seek ways to create greater value from IT investments. For example, recent work has emphasised the growing trend of value co-creation by multiple organisations that collectively leverage IT. In this paper, we build on these developments to develop a multidimensional understanding of the business value of health IT. Insights from two inductive case studies at two hospitals within the English National Health Service (NHS) highlight the inherent multidimensionality of the value of health IT (HIT) by recognising and connecting economic and operational with other forms of value. On the one hand, our findings suggest that information in and of itself can provide business value by helping hospitals develop their information capabilities, which enables a better negotiating position of funding with commissioners. On the other hand, we argue HIT value can also enhance hospital reputation and legitimacy, thereby improving healthcare practices from the perspective of different evaluating audiences. We conclude by discussing the implications of a more holistic view of value both for HIT and IS theory and practice.