Organizational structures during SOA implementation: the case of a Greek healthcare organization

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate service-oriented architecture organizational studies (SOA OS) in healthcare through a rigorous literature review, development and testing in an eGovernment health-care setting. The application of SOA paradigm to integrate information systems has been pursued mainly by private organizations. However, SOA starts to appear in the public agenda and specifically in health-care reengineering, as well. Recently, government strategies for eHealth have been slowly incorporating the SOA paradigm to integrate isolated systems, provide cost-effective solutions and expand the capabilities of their health-care information system. Yet, literature indicates that eHealth government strategies, including SOA, require the support of SOA OS to be successfully implemented. Design/methodology/approach - To investigate the less acknowledged phenomena like SOA OS in healthcare, the authors incorporate an interpretive, qualitative case study approach to conduct this research. This method will assist in examining the phenomenon in its natural setting, examine the in-depth complexities and health-care processes and provide rich qualitative data during interviews and observations. Findings - The authors critically review the literature and synthesize a SOA OS with specific attributes, sub-elements, guidelines and healthcare-specific parameters. This conceptual structure was tested in the practical arena leading to an evaluated SOA OS blueprint. Research limitations/implications - As the outcome of the research was based on a single case, the paper concludes that the SOA OS in health-care research needs to broaden its perspective with more empirical data. Practical implications - This research revealed empirical insights that can help practitioners and researchers focus their attention to the significant role that the SOA OS plays during SOA implementations. Originality/value - This paper focuses on critical success factors related to SOA implementations in health-care organizations and can be considered as novel as it identifies and structures a SOA OS element that can be part of a SOA governance approach in the area of healthcare.