The status quo of IS conference publications on theorising eHealth in developing countries.

Abstract

The purpose of this systematic review is to consolidate existing evidence on electronic health (eHealth) initiatives examined in developing countries to better inform future practice and research. More specifically, this paper examines the status quo of theorising eHealth in developing countries across a range of top Information Systems (IS) conference publications over a fifteen year period (2000–2015). While some work has been done on examining the application of theory within the eHealth domain, the associated context in which this work is performed is often over looked. Examining the papers from a theoretical and contextual perspective reveal that IS researchers’ primary attention is generalisable theory (in the form of explanation) with some consideration given to the interaction with the healthcare context. IS researchers should leverage the lessons learned from other IS sub domains and move beyond generalizable theories to further enrich the understanding of eHealth in developing countries.