Evaluation of investment for enterprise application integration technology in healthcare organisations: a cost-benefit approach

Recent developments in the field of Information Technology (IT), such as integration technologies have promised to bring improvements in the quality of services; however, costs of these technologies are relatively high. Consequently, investment justification for these technologies is one of the many challenges that are faced by managers in healthcare organisations. IT investments in healthcare organisations are usually justified using traditional investment-appraisal techniques such as Return on Investment (ROI) analysis, internal rate of return, net present value and payback approach. The techniques are specifically used to measure the financial impact of the investment; therefore, the techniques are limited to accommodate human and organisational benefits associated with the adoption of integration technologies. In exploring this phenomenon, the paper focuses on benefits and costs of Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) adoption in healthcare organisations. This may be useful for the managers in preparing investment budget proposals.