How habit affects continuous use: evidence from Jordan's national health information system

Implementing a health information system (HIS) to enhance healthcare services and patients' experience has become a growing trend in developing countries. Yet little is known about acquainted users' attitudes on continuing the use of an HIS after adoption. Healthcare professionals (physicians and nurses in particular) are reluctant to use HISs because they perceive them as an interruption of their interaction with patients, thus negatively influencing their efficiency. In this study, we extend the technology acceptance model (TAM) by integrating habit as an exogenous variable that affects HISs' perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) to investigate experienced healthcare professionals' attitudes in continuing to use an HIS. The setting of this study is a developing country (Jordan) that implemented a nationwide HIS named Hakeem. The findings show that in the context of healthcare, attitude is the major determinant to continue using HISs. Findings also show that habit significantly increases healthcare professionals' perception of PU and PEOU, which improves their attitudes toward continuing to use HISs. These findings have implications for both research and practice.