Does failure breed success: narrative analysis of stories about computerized provider order entry.

Abstract

To assess the definitions of success and failure as defined by the participants of the Menucha Consensus Conference on Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE). Thirteen experts from various fields participated in Menucha Consensus Conference. Though they belonged to different fields, all of them had some kind of experience in CPOE implementation. The stories of these experts were analyzed using a constant comparison method and partially ordered display. Each participant told a success and a failure story. Definitions of success and failure, as well as variables contributing to the success and failure of CPOE implementations, were extracted from the transcripts. Analysis reveals that what is considered a failure is context dependent and that it often is an antecedent to success.