Summary note

1. Human/Technology Adaptation Fit (HTAF) model
Institutions, informal and formal, are aiming towards achieving regularities of human action in
situations structured by rules, norms, and shared strategies, as well as by the physical world, and
as such they provide the enabling environment for implementing adaptation actions (Moser and
Ekstrom, 2011). While the Adaptive Structuration Theory, developed by Gidden (1979) enhances
the study of IT, particularly in situations of new implementations, a modification of AST theory,
developed by DeSanctis and Poole (1994), focuses on the social structure within organizations and
the means through which the interaction of organizational members affects and are affected by the
use of IT.
In the healthcare environment, there is the authority figure, mid-level staff, including the doctors,
nurses, and other working teams, all acting as separate entities in an asynchronous mode, making
the action of the individual of particular interest. Since interaction and communication are
important in determining how IT is applied and adapted to accomplish the consulting firms’
mission, the use of technologies implemented will be aimed to improve communication,
information transfer and decision-making. Thus, the Human/Technology Adaptation Fit (HTAF)
theory focuses on the intersection of user adaptation and technology adaptation under the contexts
of voluntary or mandatory IT use.
Information Technology (IT) adaptation is the ability and actions of a user to modify a technology
to facilitate job tasks. Modifications to the technology may be as simple as using voice entry over
keyboard entry methods or as major as downloading data for use on other (particularly less secure)
systems. Personalization, the concept of allowing individuals to arrange their workstations,
desktops, and applications in a way that is most efficient, is another type of IT adaptation. IT
adaptation also extends to incorrect or incomplete use of the system. Incomplete data challenges
the ability to make informed, timely decisions (Tucker, Nembhard, and Edmondson, 2007). Thus,
the significance of HTAF lies in the level of process integration of mConsulting tools in an
organization as the individual user chooses how he or she uses the IT and that decision may lead
to use in a manner other than for what it was intended.
Individual User (IU) adaptation can be a temporary or permanent modification that a user makes
to his or her behaviors or norms because of perceived or real limitations of the IT to be able to

2. accomplish his or her tasks. These include simple workarounds that allow the user to more
effectively work on the system, as well as those that avoid features of the system.
Although IT is not always the solution to a problem, organizations are structured to accept that the
adaptation of IT may not result in expected outcomes, such as increase in effectiveness and
efficiency (Sambamurthy and Subramani, 2005). Howbeit, understanding the balance between the
organizational social structures, the individual employees’ tasks, and their relationship with Health
care Technology can enhance development of effective healthcare information systems that infuse
usage requirements of healthcare providers, management, patients, and other stakeholders within
the system. Hence, the implementation of systems, and administrative support functions systems
to support the healthcare mission signifies specific focus, restrictive and rigid set of standards
To enhance the performance of digital experts, health professionals, and other stakeholders, there
is need to ascertain whether or not the IT, such as clinical decision support systems (CDSS),
computerized physician order entry (CPOE), electronic medical/health records (EMR/EHR),
personally-controlled health records (PCHR), implemented is appropriately designed to suit the
task the individual user (IU) performs. According to Weigel, et al (2009) rarely is patient care the
domain of an individual as groups consisting of doctors, nurses, practitioners, technicians,
administrators, and the patient are involved in information exchange, decision-making, and actions
based on decisions made. This makes IT and IU adaptation crucial to meeting the demand
improvements in medical care, such as the advancement in Health Information Technology.
HTAF helps to give understanding as to why the certain phenomena occur and how this insight
can bring practical value to healthcare practitioners and administrators in an attempt to unveil the
correlation between the level at which Information Technology is appropriately fitted to the
individual user’s task within the healthcare environment and the level to which the individual will
attempt to adapt the technology or adapt his or her own behavior.

3. REFERENCING STYLE
DeSanctis, G., and Poole, M. S. (1994). Capturing the Complexity in Advanced Technology Use:
Adaptive Structuration Theory. Organization Science, 5(2), 121-147.
Giddens, A. (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory, Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.
Moser, S.C. and Ekstrom, J. A. (2011). Taking ownership of climate change: participatory
adaptation planning in two local case studies from California. Journal of Environmental
Studies and Sciences, 1(1), 63-74.
Sambamurthy, V., and Subramani, M. R. (2005). Special Issue on Information Technologies and
Knowledge Management. MIS Quarterly, 29(1), 1-7.
Tucker, A. L., Nembhard, I. M., and Edmondson, A. C. (2007). Implementing New Practices: An
Empirical Study of Organizational Learning in Hospital Intensive Care Units. Management
Science, 53(6), 894-907.
Weigel, F., Hall, D.J., and Landrum W.H (2009). Human/Technology Adaptation Fit Theory for
Healthcare. Southern Association of Information Systems. SAIS Proceedings. 22