Digital Health Adoption and Performance of Healthcare Services in Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria

This study assessed digital health adoption and performance of healthcare services in Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria, where there is an acute underutilization of the accessible technological tools. A survey research method was employed, enabling the collection of pertinent data from healthcare workers and patients attending the State Specialist Hospital, Akure, the largest healthcare facility in Akure metropolis, through questionnaire administration. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The formulated hypotheses were tested with the use of test statistics, while Pearson product-moment correlation and factor analysis were used to test the level of relationship between the variables. The results identify the moderate application of SMS-based medication reminders and health education, as 63.5 per cent of the respondents stated that the cost of implementing and maintaining digital health technologies has a serious influence on the capacity of hospitals to provide quality care. Also, 63.0 per cent of the sampled population admitted that government policies and regulations are important in determining the reception of digital health. The research indicates low use of integrated Hospital Information Systems (HIS) and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) as well as automated billing, with 44.5 per cent of the respondents disagreeing with the statement that the training of healthcare professionals has a positive effect on service delivery. The regression model indicates that the two most significant independent contributors of digital health adoption are operation effectiveness and infrastructure readiness, and that operation effectiveness operated significantly and positively (beta = 0.757, p = 0.000). Conversely, policy, cost, and user readiness variables exerted a rather low effect, indicating that the development of digital health adoption rates should be directed to the improvement of operating systems, infrastructure, and the removal of organisational constraints. The study revealed that the healthcare system in Akure is technologically evolving, yet demonstrably capable of realising sizeable performance gains, where even limited digital tools are embedded.