The self-perceived role of tech champions in municipal healthcare services—A descriptive qualitative study

Background Health professionals performing tech champion roles have been identified as key personnel for successful technology adaptation. However, studies of tech champions’ roles in small organizations and from their own perspective are limited. This study explores how health professionals perform tech champions roles in municipal healthcare services. Methods This study is based on eight semi-structured interviews with health professionals holding tech champion roles in municipal healthcare services. Purposeful sampling from five locations in three Norwegian municipalities was conducted to ensure diversity in technologies and contexts. Braun and Clarke's [2022] description of reflexive thematic analysis guided the data analysis. Results We found that tech champions hold an undefined role, holding neither predefined job descriptions nor assigned clear-cut dedicated tasks. Performance of the tech champion role appears to be highly contextual. Tech champions must be able to perform a set of sub-roles simultaneously and customize their role performance to the respective stages of the implementation processes, specific technologies, and the implementation contexts. Thus, their enthusiasm, professional and technological competencies, and organizational know-how provided them with credibility and influence to fulfill their perceived mission of promoting, adopting, and supporting the use of technologies in the municipal healthcare service. Conclusion The tech champion’s role is undefined by management, but the champions themselves hold a clear understanding of their tasks and sub-roles in the technology implementation process. Tech champions need to hold several professional, technological, and personal competencies, as well as organizational know-how, to fulfill their perceived mission of supporting technology implementation in their services. The findings indicate that while it is important who holds the tech champion role, tech champions are not strategically integrated into municipal health technology implementation processes.