E-health Implementation by Private Dental Service Providers in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals recognises the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in accelerating human development and progress by bridging the digital divide and developing knowledge societies. Internet technologies affect every sphere of human and organisational life. The study was motivated by low e-health adoption in developing countries such as Zimbabwe. A cross-sectional quantitative survey investigated e-health implementation by private dental care service providers in Bulawayo. The research population comprised private dental service providers in Bulawayo. Data was collected using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire that was self-administered. Regression and factor analysis, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy, Bartlett’s sphericity test, and the Principal Component Analysis were used for data analysis. The study found that private dental service providers in Bulawayo were already implementing some rudimentary elements of e-health in their day-to-day practice. The findings also revealed that private dental care providers positively perceived the benefits of implementing e-health, such as improved quality of health service delivery, enhanced efficiency, and improved accessibility of services. Participants highlighted ICT costs, communication, lack of experience, and e-readiness as significant barriers to e-health implementation. Most participants were concerned that personal health information may fall into the wrong hands resulting in privacy violations and loss of personal data. The regression coefficient showed that combined variations in the independent variables explain at least 76.4% of the dependent variable (adoption). The study recommends the government enact policies that support private dental service providers in implementing e-health systems to improve service delivery. The study contributes to the literature on e-health adoption in developing countries.