INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES DELIVERY IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Information technology (IT) is the application of computers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve,
transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enterprise. The term is commonly used as a
synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies
such as television and telephones. Several industries are associated with information technology, including computer
hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, telecom equipment, engineering, healthcare, e-commerce
and computer services (Wikipedia, 2015).
World population now exceeds six billion of which more than 4.7 billion reside in the developing world. As the
population is increasing there is a need to find ways of improving efficiency and quality of health care delivery
systems in developing countries especially in Nigeria where this research is conducted. Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has been identified as a vehicle with the potential to improve the quality of health
care systems as well as the efficiency and service delivery of the health workers both in the developed and
developing countries. Information and communication technologies have changed the face of the world we live in
(Jensen, 1998). ICT enables people to communicate with family, friends and colleagues around the world instantaneously, gain
access to global libraries, information resources, and numerous other opportunities. ICT may also bring an
improvement in health care service delivery systems. So, we may define information technology as one of the driving
forces of globalization.
Since the year 2001, there has been a revolutionary growth in the telephony industry which is a major branch of
information technology in Nigeria. This is expected to have permeated the health care institutions with significant
positive impact on health care service delivery. Two years after the introduction of GSM in Nigeria, conducted an
interview among medical practitioners in some Nigerian teaching hospitals to find out the current level of utilization of
telephones for health care service delivery. They noted that medical experts use their personal mobile phones to
facilitate patient care at their own expense. Neither the government nor hospital management had taken up the
responsibility. Currently, the number of GSM service providers in the country has increased significantly and all of
them keep rolling out several service options or packages including internet services with varying benefits to attract
customers (Agboola, 2003). Although, A GSM based referral system was developed, validated and recommended for
use in the primary health care centres. The extent to which the growth in telecommunication has impacted tertiary
health care service delivery and how far this has enhanced the development of an ICT –driven health care practice in
Nigeria is still to be known. This has necessitated the need for study into the relationship between information
technology and service delivery in tertiary hospitals in River State.
The production of quality health-care service delivery in a country is guided by the level of the information technology
infrastructure possessed and used by that country. A good information technology infrastructure, therefore, is a
prerequisite for enhancing the well-being of a country. Gates (1999) reported that intra- and inter-organizational
networks in some advanced countries function like a digital neural system of the organization. Thus, he inferred that
information communication for health purposes has shifted from the largely manual or physical documentary method
to digital communication. He further stated that such access to information technology has helped disseminate
information to the rest of the world. American doctors are now able to collaborate as often and as quickly as they
want with other medical doctors in other parts of the world through the use of information technology. For example,
while examining a patient, a medical doctor might be able to send an electronic x-ray of a patient to a leading expert
in another country who could readily interpret and provide more details of the disease or condition, as well as send
feedback to the medical doctor all within a few minutes. Medical researchers, in their research and application
processes, can use the Internet to identify research issues, search literature databases, seek out information on
surveys and clinical trials, and published research results.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Several studies have reported on information technology use among medical and health workers reported that while
information technology capabilities (personal computers, mobile phones, Internet) were available in Nigerian teaching
hospitals, mobile phones were spreading fast. Information technology has greatly advanced the course of health
delivery in advanced countries. It is also a known fact that computers and mobile phones were in use in all the
teaching hospitals but not much Internet connectivity was available, meaning that most of the medical experts used
external (non hospital) Internet services, such as cybercafés, for even rudimentary Internet access, such as e-mail.
Several research further explained that while just 1.4% of the medical staff did not use the Internet in any fashion, the
vast majority (70.7%) of those using the Internet did so only for e-mail. However, the researcher is examining the
effect of information technology on service delivery in Nigerian Teaching hospitals
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SERVICES DELIVERY IN NIGERIA