Lone Stub Petersen

Communication challenges in system development: involvement of system developers in small-scale IT projects.

A well-known challenge in system development is the aspect of user participation. In this paper we shift perspective from how to involve users in system development to how project managers with a clinical background, but without technical system knowledge, can involve system developers in IT projects. Using data from the development of an online patient book (an ICT application for clinical practice), we analyze challenges using the concept of language-games. We conclude that further research and development of participatory and communicative methods to involve system developers in IT projects, based in a clinical context, is needed.

A culture and power perspective on the management of health information technology in hospitals.

The three traditionally dominating professional hospital cultures - physicians, nurses and management - are challenged by the increasing use of health information technology (HIT) in health care. A fourth group of actors, the IT-professionals has become an exceedingly powerful player challenging the boundaries of the traditional hospital cultures. The hospital cultures are being redefined by and are redefining the technologies as well as the divisions of labour between the professional groups. The IT-professionals have become central actors in this and thereby they constitute a fourth powerful professional culture in the hospitals. This study draws out the phenomenon of IT-professionals as a fourth culture through a qualitative case study of both the IT-department and clinical and managerial hospital practices. The study finds evidence of how the IT-professionals and the IT-departments play a central part in the development of hospital practices constituting them as an influential culture and player in the hospitals. The tendency to see IT as merely infrastructure is hereby challenged and the conclusions demand further research into how to consider IT strategically in the hospitals, possibly pointing towards further user involvement in IT management.

Techno-Anthropologists as Change Agents: A case in health informatics.

Studying technology will often involve studying change - or in the perspective of this chapter should involve not just studying but also actively being involved with change. Your presence and the questions you ask shape the way people think and act and on the other hand their responses and your study of practice change the researchers perspective. For Techno-Anthropologist, this means that asking in specific ways about technology and having a focus on technology in the data collection and fieldwork will (should) influence what they see, the data they collect and their analysis - and also the way the informants think and the way people talk about practice and technology. The Techno-Anthropological researcher should be aware and actively use the potential for change in the empirical study of technology. In this chapter I exemplify and examine how and why change can be embraced and seen as an integral part of Techno-Anthropological studies in Health Informatics and beyond. This statement is supported through reflections on empirical examples, qualitative methods, and ethical and philosophical considerations on research and change. The chapter concludes that Techno-Anthropologists should actively consider and engage in the potential for change of the empirical studies of technology.

The Role of the IT Department in Organizational Redesign

Focus within eHealth research is often on development and implementation. However, the role of information systems maintenance and management is often neglected. In order for the IT department to accommodate the needs of the hospitals and continuous change of organization and practice there is a need for developing an understanding of the complex relationship between the IT department and clinical practice. In this paper the concept of redesign is used to deepen our understanding of IT related organizational change in healthcare organizations. In the paper I argue that the IT department is a central partner, steward and power in organizational change and learning in hospitals as the IT department serve both as a barrier and a catalyst of change and flexibility in the organization through management of information systems maintenance and redesign. Therefore it is important to consider and secure appropriate forms for stewarding redesign and learning in cooperation between the health care organizations and the IT department.