Determining the Importance Level of Effective Criteria in the Health Information System Selection via Spherical Fuzzy DEMATEL Method

Abstract

The dynamic structure of the health sector entails its integration with new technologies that transform every aspect of life. According to the developments in computer and communication technologies, health information systems have quickly been used in health institutions. On the other hand, with the spread of health information systems, problems were encountered in ensuring inter-institutional standards and quality. At this point, the selection of health information systems that are compatible with national and international health systems and that will meet the current and future needs of health institutions have gained importance. Purpose of this study is to determine the effective criteria in the selection of health information systems and the importance levels of these criteria. The criteria determined by scanning the literature were reduced to eight (security, cost, system quality and technical support, design, statistical information delivery, decision support system inclusion, accessibility, integration with external systems and subsystem inclusivity) by using the Delphi method with expert opinions. The spherical fuzzy DEMATEL method was applied to determine the importance levels of the criteria. The study will provide important novelties in terms of using the Delphi method at the point of determining the criteria and considering fuzziness and the interaction between the criteria. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.