Emre Sezgin

A systematic literature review on Health Recommender Systems

Health Information Systems are becoming an important platform for healthcare services. In this context, Health Recommender Systems (HRS) are presented as complementary tools in decision making processes in healthcare services. Health Recommender Systems increase usability of technologies and reduce information overload in processes. In this paper, a literature review was conducted by following a review procedure. Major approaches in HRS were outlined and findings were discussed. The paper presented current developments in the market, challenges and opportunities regarding to HRS and emerging approaches. It is believed that this study is an illuminating start-up point for HRS literature review.

Attitudes of pharmacists towards e-pharmacy application: A work in progress research on medula project

In Turkey, there have been a number of projects conducted to provide health services by information and communication technologies (ICT). The aim of these projects is to provide health services in the best form and establishing a network among patients and health foundations. Although these systems provide useful functionalities in theory, they have been frequently questioned for user acceptance of these functionalities in practice. In this study, a web-based application which is used by pharmacists named as Medula will be investigated for its adoption by pharmacists in Turkey, which is also important for being the first study in pharmaceutical field in the literature. Influencing factors that affect user adoption were identified and measured by a survey study on pharmacists. According to the results, survey items were found reliable and applicable for the next study with a large sample group. It is believed that this study will be a valuable asset for the researchers and developers in pharmaceutical technology adoption studies.

Understanding the perception towards using mHealth applications in practice: Physicians’ perspective

The objective of this study was to investigate physicians’ perceptions to use mobile health applications in practice, and to identify influencing factors to use the technology. An mHealth technology acceptance model was proposed (M-TAM), and a cross-sectional survey was implemented using structured questionnaire to collect data. Online tools were used for inviting participants (physicians) and data collection from Turkey. The data was analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). A total of 128 physicians participated in the survey. The model explained the perception of physicians towards mHealth application use by 51% of total variance. The influential factors were identified as Effort Expectancy, Mobile Anxiety, Perceived Service Availability and Technical Training and Support. The study provided a new model to the literature of health information technology. Findings of the research contributed by unveiling latent constructs and their influence on physicians’ perceptions towards a new healthcare technology: mHealth applications.

Assessing Information Technology Use in Organizations: Developing a Framework

Increasing use of current and developing information technologies (IT) within business and production processes is a required transformation to survive in the market. However, IT should be well-managed to be adapted by an organization as a whole. This study proposes a new model for the assessment of IT use in organizations. The aim is to assist decision making processes in information technology management through exploring strength and weaknesses of organization on IT tools and applications. The model has been developed upon a three-folded structure including academic studies in technology management, best practices which are developed for control over operations and processes including COBIT, CMMI and ITIL, and standards about IT management and IT security. The study assists to reveal benefits and deficiencies of IT use in organizations. It also provides information for decision-makers about IT value within companies, and demonstrates the effects of best practices and standards over IT use.

Assessment of cloud services: An economic perspective

There is an increasing demand to cloud services in the market. In terms of cost and benefit, it is obvious that cloud services lowered investment cost and fixed cost for businesses. Thus, an economic perspective towards cloud services is required for strategic decisions. In this paper, a preliminary evaluation of cloud services was presented, and the common economic issues were identified. Regarding to these issues, the latency was addressed from the economic perspective, and a testing environment was created and implemented in 5 different cases. The results were given in the paper outlining impact of latency in terms of concurrent users and bandwidth allocation. Finally, an alternative cost estimation was proposed.

Assessment of Information Technology Use in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Empirical Investigation in Five Cases

Small or Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) constitute a significant portion with in the world economy, especially for developing countries. In this context, the use of information technologies (IT) brought a leverage to gain competitive advantage in the market. In that regard, effective use of IT is vital to maintain successful business operations. Since assessment bring the improvement with it, assessment of IT use in SMEs would enhance business operations as well as organizational processes. This chapter presents an exploratory study with the practice of a new model for assessment of IT use in SMEs, which is called ITMEM: Information Technology Management Enhancement Model. This model aims to enhance IT management and processes within 5 domains (Identification, Selection, Acquisition, Exploitation and Protection) which brings together the organizational use of IT in a coherent whole. The model was developed upon a three-folded structure including (1) academic studies in technology management, (2) best practices which are developed for control over IT operations and processes including COBIT, CMMI and ITIL, and (3) standards about IT management and IT security. Data was collected by survey method including quantitative and qualitative approaches. Results were statistically tested for reliability and consistency. The findings were presented as strengths and weakness of cases in terms of IT use. In addition to that, implications about IT awareness, its utilization and protection, importance of assessment and relationship between organizational processes and IT use were reported. Interviews have been conducted with senior level personnel of IT departments in companies. The results presented that practicing assessment in companies is encouraging in terms of IT use by employees and increasing quality of business processes. The reported findings would be valuable asset for researchers who are developing a model, and for practitioners who are developing managerial implications about IT management and IT use in SMEs. In addition to that, it is believed that the research will contribute to literature in terms of implementing IT assessment on cases of SMEs.