Use of information and communications technology in Saudi Arabian hospitals

Dr Saleh Al-Zahrani’s account illustrates that even in different conditions and in a different culture, the business of making effective use of ICTs in health and social care meets difficulties and resistances that are well known to the readers of bjhc&im.

keywords: saudi arabia, healthcare modernisation, ict deployment problems.

abstract

The Saudi Arabian government has encouraged all organisations to deploy ICTs. Most healthcare organisations have introduced ICTs in some form or another to support and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations. Unfortunately, for different reasons, sometimes technical but more often organisational, many organisations have found it difficult to achieve their objectives. Many of the issues and problems associated with ICT in Saudi Arabia reflect the problems elsewhere in the world. Some of these problems, however, are associated with Saudi culture rather than being ascribable to technical or financial issues.

Br J Healthcare Comput Info Manage 2002; 19(10): 17–19.