The Case of Organizational Innovation Capability and Health Information Technology Implementation Success: As You Sow, So You Reap?

Abstract

Organizational innovation capability is defined as the ability to continuously transform knowledge and ideas into new products, processes and systems for the benefit of an organization and its stakeholders. This study examines the relationship between the innovation capability of healthcare organizations and their ability to successfully implement electronic medical records (EMR), a health information technology (HIT) innovation. Data was collected using a cross-sectional survey and structural equation modeling (SEM) method was used to analyze the data. Results demonstrate that organizational product innovation capability positively affects EMR implementation success. A positive relationship also exists between organizational process innovation capability and EMR implementation success. This study is one of the first to empirically validate the relationship between healthcare organization’s innovation capability and HIT innovation implementation success, in the context of EMRs. Implications of the study for the academic and industry practitioner are discussed.