Enterprise architecture, IT effectiveness and the mediating role of IT alignment in US hospitals

TLDR

Despite potential benefits, effective healthcare IT implementation is constrained by cultural, regulatory, and technical obstacles in establishing or upgrading enterprise infrastructure. The study extends Ross' four-stage enterprise architecture maturity model as a resource to help healthcare organizations sustain competitive advantage. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied to survey data from 164 U.S. hospitals at varying EA maturity stages.

Abstract

Abstract Despite the possible benefits of implementing healthcare information technologies, successful implementation of effective healthcare information technology is constrained by cultural and regulatory concerns and technical obstacles encountered when establishing or upgrading an organisation's enterprise infrastructure. In this paper, we advance Ross' four‐stage model of enterprise architecture maturity as a valuable IT resource for helping healthcare organisations sustain a competitive advantage. We use partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from 164 US hospitals at different stages of EA maturity. Our results provide evidence that enterprise architecture maturity directly influences the effectiveness of hospitals' IT resources for achieving strategic goals. Further, enterprise architecture maturity indirectly influences the effectiveness of IT resources when IT alignment is incorporated as a mediating variable. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice and suggest opportunities for future research.