Management Issues In Automating Medical Systems

Abstract

The nontechnical aspects of medical computing systems are as important as the technical. In order to understand why, it is important to consider the social context of systems, the human engineering necessary for medical systems to work, and the specifics of the man-machine interface. It is also necessary to plan for the change which comes with any new method. This paper contains a discussion of these topics, concluding with a set of guidelines for change-management which we feel organizes the data of years of experience into a systematic approach.

People, Organizational, and Social Issues: Evaluation as an exemplar

“…Management issues, user acceptance, and diffusion and adoption of information systems have been discussed in the medical informatics literature at least since the early 1980s [47]. From early on, authors linked diffusion studies, evaluation research, and change management [e.g., 16,48,49,50,51,52]. Studies of diffusion of a hospital information system, for example, showed that physicians' professional networks influenced adoption [43,44], so that these professional networks could be used to encourage system use.…”

Future Directions in Evaluation Research: People, Organizational, and Social Issues

“…Management issues, user acceptance, and diffusion and adoption of information systems have been discussed in the medical informatics literature at least since the early 1980s [32]. Authors linked diffusion and communication studies, evaluation research, and change management since early in the development of the field (e.g., [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]). For example, studies of the diffusion of a hospital information system showed that physicians' professional networks influenced adoption and could be used to encourage system use [28,29].…”

THE COMPUTER AS RORSCHACH: Implications for Management and User Acceptance

“…Such a person functions much as a change agent: one who bridges the gap between promoter and user. [15,24] User Involvement In addition to assigning the change-agent role to someone on the project team, it is also important to have user involvement in project design and evaluation. Opportunities and feedback channels for finding out how users think about the project should also be provided.…”