Three analytics-based essays examining the use and impact of Intelligent Voice Assistants (IVA) and Health Information Technologies (HIT) in service contexts
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Brigid A. Appiah Otoo (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Alfarooq Salam
Abstract: Recent advancements in information technology (IT) innovation, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), are changing the dynamics in the service sector by driving smart reinvention of service tasks and processes. Additionally, organisations are leveraging the capabilities of emerging information systems (IS) to make their services more efficient and customer centric. However, the decision to use recent advancements in IT can be challenging for organizations since the required initial investment for implementation is often high and the economic value and impact on service performance cannot be gauged with certainty (Kwon et al. 2015). This forces many organizations to prioritise which IT functionalities may best be suited for their needs. To support the decision making process of organizations, regarding the adoption and use of innovative IT, scholars in the information systems (IS) and related fields are called to improve knowledge and understanding about various IT components and functionalities as well as their corresponding impact on individual users and organizations. Scholars are also expected to provide the means by which businesses can meaningfully predict the potential impact and economic value of innovative IT (Ravichandran 2018). In this three essay dissertation, we investigate how the use of various components and functionalities of innovative information systems can individually (or together) impact the quality of service delivered to end consumers. The essays are broadly based on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning(ML) and services. In the first study, we found that during encounters between eService consumers and Intelligent Voice Assistants (IVAs), typically powered by artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing, the following dimensions are important for the perceived quality of service: IVA interactivity, IVA personalization, IVA flexibility, IVA assurance and IVA reliability. Among the five dimensions of IVA encounter, we found that IVA interactivity, IVA personalization and IVA reliability had positive impacts on the effective use of IVAs. In study 2, we investigated performance of hospitals in the health service sector. We proposed a smart decision support system (DSS) for predicting the performance of hospitals based on the Health Information Technology (HIT) functionalities as applied and used in these hospitals for patient care and in improving hospital performance. We found that the predictive performance of our proposed smart DSS was most accurate when HIT functionalities were used in certain bundles than in isolation. In study 3, we investigated the effect of hospital heterogeneity on the accuracy of prediction of our proposed smart DSS as we recognize that not all hospitals have the same set of context, opportunity, location and constraints. We found that the following sources of variations in hospitals had significant moderator effects on the accurate prediction of our smart DSS: hospital size, ownership, region, location (urban/rural) and complexity of cases treated. In summary, this dissertation contributes to the IS literature by providing insight into the emergent use of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies as part of IS/IT solutions in both consumer-oriented services and the healthcare sector.
Three analytics-based essays examining the use and impact of Intelligent Voice Assistants (IVA) and Health Information Technologies (HIT) in service contexts
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Created on 5/1/2021
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Dissertation
- Language: English
- Date: 2021
- Keywords
- Artificial Intelligence, eServices, Health Information Technology, Healthcare, Intelligent Voice Assistants, Machine Learning
- Subjects
- Medical care $x Information technology
- Medical informatics