Application of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in improving service delivery and revenue capacity in university of Nigeria teaching hospital, Ituku Ozalla, Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The state of public hospitals in Nigeria has been abysmal ranging from very poor service delivery to financial leakages and wastages. In a bid to seek solution and turn things positively, the management of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Ituku Ozalla decided to overhaul the decaying system by deploying Information Communication Technology (ICT) facilities to the hospital. The aim was to automate every segment of the hospital’s operation with a view to improving services and abating corruption, thereby shoring up revenue. This paper investigated the outcome of this policy implementation. In doing so, two research questions and two hypotheses were formulated. Primary and secondary data were used. Our respondents included one hundred patients of the hospital and twenty I.T. consultants. Information infrastructure theory was used as the theoretical foundation of the study. Findings were made through primary data by testing our hypotheses using regression analysis and supported by secondary data of hospital financial records. The research found out that deployment of ICT in UNTH Ituku Ozalla brought about availability of high level of service delivery and helped the hospital experience net increase in revenue as a result of increased operational efficiency and transparency. A recommendation of the paper was that automation of every department in the hospital should be sustained.