Richard J. Whiddett

User acceptance of inter-organizational electronic medical records

This paper reports the findings of the first stage of an ongoing, longitudinal study into primary care practitioners’ views of an electronic medical records (EMR) system for maternity patients. All doctors and midwives holding maternity care contracts with a large urban hospital in New Zealand were sent a questionnaire soliciting their views on a planned EMR system linking the hospital and the primary care sectors. The questionnaire was based on Davis’ technology acceptance model (TAM) [1]. The results show that while Davis’ two key factors of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness were important to medical professionals, other features of the proposed system and the wider organizational environment also influenced the respondents’ willingness to utilize the proposed system.

New Zealanders’ attitudes towards access to their electronic health records: Preliminary results from a national study using vignettes

This project investigates public attitudes towards sharing confidential personal health information held in electronic health records (EHRs). The project uses computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) to conduct a quantitative national survey of the attitudes of New Zealanders towards access to their personal health information using vignettes. Respondents are presented with vignettes which describe ways in which their health information might be used, and asked about their attitude to and consent for each type of access. The project outcome will be a specification of requirements for an e-consent model meeting the needs of most New Zealanders, thus enabling the potential benefits of electronically sharing confidential health information from EHRs. This article presents preliminary results from the first 1828 respondents. Respondents were most willing to share their information for the purpose of providing care. However, removing their name and address greatly increased the acceptability of sharing information for other purposes.

Teaching Information Systems Management Skills: Using Integrated Projects and Case Studies

University courses in Computer Science (CS) and Information Systems (IS) are often criticized by industry for concentrating on conceptual learning while failing to provide their students with experience and grounding in managerial skills. This paper describes and discusses an innovative course In this paper the term “course” will be used to refer to a single integrated unit of study. In New Zealand such units are often referred to as “papers”. These courses can be combined together, according to various rules, to form a “course of study” which will lead to a qualification. At Massey University, a degree is comprised of 24 such courses.structure which has been developed in order to ground the teaching of IS management theory in its local context by interlinking practical projects and case studies in local organizations. The student projects are used to generate a large “cross-sectional” case study which describes several IS management problems that are occurring simultaneously in the same organization. Students are required to integrate their analysis of the problems and to recommend an appropriate series of responses which will tackle all the situations. The paper describes the rationale and organization of the course, the results of an evaluation of its effectiveness, and discusses some of the problems that were encountered during its implementation.

Increased electronic information sharing by sexual health services: confidentiality and consent

New Zealand is moving towards an integrated health-care model with information accessible electronically regardless of location, linking existing health provider systems, regional clinical results repositories and a shared care record. However, such information sharing has been a major concern for patients attending sexual health services. In this study, we investigated patient attitudes towards a change in practice to support an integrated care model. Outcomes showed that confidentiality remains a significant concern, and routine sharing of patient information may create barriers to attendance for some, leading to a potential increase in untreated infections. We conclude that sexual health services may be able to change their information management practices to an opt-out consent system and routinely share health information with other health providers, but further public discussion to ensure informed consent is needed before this can happen. Regardless of national policy, it is still necessary to keep clinic visit details confidential for some patients attending sexual health services.

Integrating case studies and projects in IS management education

University courses in Information Systems (I.!

Cross-Cultural Issues Affecting Electronic Transfer of Personal Health Information

) are often criticised by industry for concentrating on conceptual learning while failing to provide their students with experience and grounding in managerial skills. This paper describes and discusses an innovative course structure which has been developed in order to ground the teaching of I.S. management theory in its local context by interlinking practical projects and case studies in a local organisation. The student projects are used to generate a large ‘cross-sectional’ case study which describes several 13. management problems that are occurring simultaneously in tie same organisation. Students are required to integrate their analysis of the problems and to recommend an appropriate series of responses which will tackle all the situations. The paper describes the rationale and organisation of the course, the results of an evaluation of its effectiveness and discusses some of the problems that were encountered during its implementation.

Complexity and Maintenance: A Comparative Study of Object-Oriented and Structured Methodologies

For some time now the health sector in developed countries has been seeking to utilise information and communications technology to improve both the quality of patient care and organisational efficiency (Hovenga et al., 1996). One strategy has been the introduction of electronic medical records (EMR) systems. An EMR is an integrated database system that consolidates all information relating to the healthcare of an individual patient. Its aim is to improve the quality of patient care by ensuring that complete and up to date information is readily available to all caregivers (Dick and Streen, 1997).

Systems maintenance and development methodologies

It has been suggested that using Object-Oriented methods instead of traditional Structured Methods may reduce the cost of maintenance of an information system. This study evaluates the relative increase in complexity of systems designs when they are subjected to a change in specifications. It was found that overall, the object-oriented system underwent a smaller increase in complexity, and it may therefore be easier to maintain than the structured system.

Patients’ attitudes towards sharing their health information

Summary form only given, as follows. Systems maintenance consumes a major proportion of the resources of information systems departments in most organisations. It is often argued that these resource requirements can be reduced by the adoption of particular technologies or methodologies, such as structured analysis or more recently object oriented technologies. The paper reviews these claims by examining some of the more basic issues of systems maintenance such as: (1) the basic definition of maintenance and the various types that can be identified; (2) the methods required for the effective management of maintenance; (3) design issues that favour maintainability; and (4) issues of measurement. Consideration of these issues leads to the conclusion that the most significant impact on systems maintenance costs are more likely to be derived from general improvements in the management tools rather than in the technical tools. Some progress towards evaluating these issues is then discussed.