Evaluation of Digital Health Technology Adoption in Nigerian Private Hospitals: Professional Barriers and Enablers

Digital health technology adoption in Nigerian private hospitals is accelerating but unevenly distributed, with significant implementation quality variation, and professional understanding of the specific barriers and enablers within this sector is necessary for evidence-based digital transformation planning. This study evaluates digital health technology adoption in Nigerian private hospitals, focusing on hospital information systems, electronic health records, telemedicine, and connected medical devices, with field research conducted at twelve private hospitals across Lagos, Abuja, Kano, and Port Harcourt. A mixed-methods professional evaluation combined structured facility assessment, technology adoption maturity scoring using an adapted Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society maturity model, and semi-structured interviews with hospital directors, clinical technology leads, biomedical engineers, and finance officers. Technology adoption maturity scores ranged from Stage 0 (complete paper-based operations) to Stage 4, with a mean score of Stage 2 indicating basic electronic departmental systems without enterprise integration. Key barriers identified include high upfront investment costs, inadequate local technical support from system vendors, unreliable power and internet infrastructure, clinician resistance to workflow change, and absence of government incentive programmes. Key enablers include corporate governance accountability pressure, private patient market expectations, access to private equity healthcare investment, and availability of cloud-based subscription-model platforms reducing capital requirements. Facilities with dedicated IT and biomedical engineering leadership showed significantly higher adoption maturity scores. The study recommends a private sector digital health adoption incentive programme and subsidized connectivity infrastructure investment. Keywords: digital health technology, private hospitals, technology adoption, barriers and enablers, Nigeria.