Faculty Profile for Dr. Barbara A Hewitt

Biography Section

Biography and Education

Barbara Hewitt earned a PhD in Information Technology (IT) and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Texas State University (TXST). She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Information Management (HIM) at TXST, where she teaches courses on privacy and security, risk assessment, health information technology, health informatics, and project management.

Dr. Hewitt began her teaching career in the HIM program at TXST, including teaching in the university's first fully online degree program, the BS HIM. She has also taught in the Computer Information Systems Program at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

Her research focuses on socio-technical systems theory and healthcare. Her work has been published in various esteemed journals, including Information Systems Frontier, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Database, Journal of Organizational and End User Computing, AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, Healthcare, and Behavioral & Information Technology.

Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Hewitt worked as a software developer and system analyst, including a role as a user analyst at Southwest Texas State University (TXST). She actively supports students participating in healthcare and security competitions and continues to mentor women considering careers in computing.

Teaching Interests

Computer Security
Project Management
Risk Assessment
Computers in healthcare

Research Interests

My areas of research are socio technical systems theory and healthcare. The socio technical systems research evolves around adoption of computers and security to identify what motivates individuals to adopt and use different protective measures while using personal computer either for personal use or to work in a hybrid work environment. I explore how security and privacy impact an individual's decision to use healthcare systems including telehealth and patient portals. I have studied knowledge sharing, ethics, and healthy behaviors including using wearable devices, considering genetic testing, and those with diabetes. In a recent qualitative study, we examined how a collaboration between HIM and PT faculty allowed PT faculty to explore the use of health informatics in classes within a DPT program. In a new study, a colleague and I are examining how digitalization in the form of digital tools and digital maturity impacts the collaborative knowledge environment of supply chain workers in a hybrid environment.