DEVELOPPING AN E-COMMERCE MODEL (B2E) WITHIN A

MULTI-SITE UNIVERSITY HEALTH CARE CENTER

A Solution to Promote Knowledge and Information Exchange

Lise Pouliot

, Marie-Claire Richer

McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Nursing Informatics

, Transition Office

, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Charles Sounan, Stella Lopreste

MUHC, Human Resources, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Keywords: Information system, Innovation, Knowledge/information sharing, e-Commerce, e-Learning, B2E,

Employee-centric strategy, Health care.

Abstract: Information management in hospitals is one of the biggest challenges to employee development and

organizational performance. In our current health care context, information and communication

technologies (ICT) are essential to information distribution, sharing and management.

In an environment such as the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), a B2E e-commerce network

represents the passage from traditional to virtual modes of exchange with the establishment’s 12,000

employees. This paper argues that an e-commerce model can create significant opportunities for creating,

sharing and applying interprofessional knowledge and information in an easy and accessible manner.

1 INTRODUCTION

According to Pavia (2001), health care has entered

the Knowledge Era, and health professionals need to

stay abreast of the latest developments if they are to

provide the best possible care to the populations they

serve. Increased knowledge production and the

advent of new communication technologies provide

health care professionals with opportunities to

improve their practice by seeking out and utilizing

new knowledge. But are they indeed doing so?

Given the speed at which new knowledge is

produced and disseminated, there is a pressing need

for an electronic platform to manage and centralize

pertinent, up-to-date and personalized information.

2 CONTEXT

Hospitals are broadly recognized as among the most

complex organizations in Western society

(Glouberman & Mintzberg, 2001, Glouberman &

Zimmerman, 2002). The orientations and operations

of the health care system which is considered a

professional bureaucracy in Mintzberg’s (1986)

typology of organizational structures are strongly

influenced by the activities and interests of the many

groups of professionals involved, all of whom draw

on the same resources and support services. Given

the professional ‘silos’ that evolve within boundaries

in urgent need of transformation (Denis et al, 1999),

the integrated delivery of health care services

represents a substantial challenge for the entire

system.

3 MODEL BACKGROUND

Introducing an employee portal is one way of

promoting a network that allows health care

professionals to acquire new knowledge as they

share and exchange information. This employee-

centric strategy is designed to include not only the

type of content an employee might hope to find on

an organization’s intranet site (e.g. corporate

directories, supporting data), but relevant personal

information and resources as well. Known as a B2E

or “business-to-employee” strategy, such portals

508

Pouliot L., Richer M., Sounan C. and Lopreste S. (2009).

DEVELOPPING AN E-COMMERCE MODEL (B2E) WITHIN A MULTI-SITE UNIVERSITY HEALTH CARE CENTER - A Solution to Promote Knowledge

and Information Exchange .

In Proceedings of the International Conference on Health Informatics, pages 508-511

DOI: 10.5220/0001780105080511

 SciTePress

facilitate access to corporate information, personal

data, transactions and services.

In organizations used to more traditional modes of

exchange, the introduction of a B2E e-commerce

model represents the passage to a virtual mode of

exchange. According to Rahim (2007), despite the

considerable business value of the B2E portal,

acceptance remains a challenge, and numerous

issues need to be addressed before such a system can

be implemented. These include personal factors

(such as perceptions of the portal as having limited

usefulness), organizational factors (the availability

of dedicated resources, support from management,

etc.) and employee awareness. It is our belief that

securing corporate commitment and dedicated

resources for the system and centralizing its

management will help ensure its sustainability.

In this context, the development of a B2E model is

supported by the TAM (Technology Acceptance

Model). The TAM is an information systems theory

that models how users accept and use technology

(Davis et al., 1989). Originating in socio-

psychological behaviourist models—i.e. the theories

of reasoned action and planned behaviour—the

TAM posits that the actual use of an information

system is contingent upon the user’s intent to use it.

This intent hinges on two factors: the technology’s

perceived usefulness (PU), and its perceived ease-of-

use (PEOU). These two constructs are in turn

influenced by external variables such as the product

characteristics or the training provided.

Davis (1989) defines perceived usefulness as the

degree to which a person believes that using a

particular system will enhance his or her job

performance. PU is a major factor in determining

system use, and in some studies is directly linked to

the adoption of information technology systems.

Figure 1: The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

As regards e-commerce, Davis (1989) defines PU as

the degree to which an individual believes that

carrying out the transaction online will increase the

effectiveness of his or her action. Davis also defines

PEOU as the degree to which a person believes that

using a particular system will be relatively effort-

free. This is a secondary factor that directly affects

the adoption of a given technology, although

conclusions are still pending as to its impact on the

use of information technology systems (Shih, 2004).

4 THE B2E MODEL

We developed the following B2E model as an

electronic platform solution inspired by the specific

needs of our health care context: being in a

university health care network; the need to address

health care system performance; being in a

competitive environment for health care human

resources; and having to respond to ongoing health

care transformation in terms of knowledge

management and information sharing. The system’s

functions meet the following objectives, namely,

fostering collaborative exchanges, competence

management, time management, learning

management and communication.

Heath Care System Performance

Current Transformation within Health Care

Figure 2: My Portal – model and objectives.

5 CREATING A B2E TOOL: MY

PORTAL

The My Portal initiative originated in the Nursing

Informatics department. The need to share

information and transfer knowledge among

professionals and between departments was

perceived as a key factor in attempting to create

interprofessional networks and break down the silos

within the organization. My Portal was also

designed as a B2E tool that would provide all health

care workers with an easy and accessible means of

creating, sharing and applying knowledge and

information.

When using My Portal, employees can navigate

between the following sections: 1) corporate

(MUHC) affairs, 2) a toolbox, 3) a forum, 4)

DEVELOPPING AN E-COMMERCE MODEL (B2E) WITHIN A MULTI-SITE UNIVERSITY HEALTH CARE

CENTER - A Solution to Promote Knowledge and Information Exchange

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personal information, and 5) education and e-

learning opportunities.

Below is a brief description of each section together

with illustrations of the related windows.

1) MUHC affairs: This section keeps health care

workers informed on departmental affairs (Figure 3)

and provides access to personalized data from

Payroll or Human Resources. This will eventually

replace most paper communication.

Figure 3: MUHC affairs.

2) My Toolbox: This section presents an array of

clinical and administrative components. For

instance, managers can access information on

budgets, employee status, hours worked, and so on

(Figure 4). This data, automatically updated by the

Human Resource Information system, gives

managers a timely and accurate representation of

their manpower capacity, thus allowing them to

make informed decisions.

Figure 4: My Toolbox.

3) Forum: This section provides health care workers

with a space to share information and discuss topics

of interest. Figure 5 shows some of the topics

discussed among peers within a department.

Creating this “social hub function” supports the

employees’ need to discuss work-related issues with

peers and colleagues in complete security.

4) Personal: This section contains an employee’s

personal information. Employees can consult their

work schedules, update their professional profiles,

and so on.

Figure 5: Forum.

After entering such data as contact information,

professional profile or interests (Figure 6),

employees can agree to have the information posted

in a controlled-access resource directory, where it

can be viewed by other employees in the

organization.

Figure 6: Personal.

5) Education: As shown in Figure 7, employees can

view their education portfolios and the professional

development e-learning modules available to them.

HEALTHINF 2009 - International Conference on Health Informatics

510

Once each e-learning module is completed, the

employee’s profile is systematically updated.

Figure 7: Education.

6 CONCLUSIONS

Allowing employees and managers to access the

most up-to-date and pertinent information for their

communication and educational needs—and by the

same token, giving them ownership of the

information—My Portal is an innovative, accessible

tool for developing, sharing and using knowledge

and information. The next step is to measure the

system’s accessibility, perceived usefulness and

ease-of-use among a small group of health care

workers. Once this has been accomplished, My

Portal can be implemented throughout the

organization.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The main author would like to acknowledge:

- The Nursing Informatics development team

- Personnel in Nursing Care, Human Resources, IT

Services, Technical Services, Logistics, and

Communications for their support throughout the

project’s development.

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