Test the artefact--develop the organization. The implementation of an electronic medication plan.

Abstract

The paper aims to develop further insights into the process of implementation of IT in health care by describing findings from a study of a trial implementation of a newly developed electronic medication plan (EMP) in three hospitals in a county in Denmark. A sociotechnical perspective is applied to data acquired by the qualitative methods of participant observation and semi-structured open-ended interviews. The achievement of fit between IT technology and work processes in health care involves the establishment of new organizational structures that cut across the existing divisionalized hospital organization and a detailed alignment of artefact, functionality and work process. This process can be furthered by supporting 'communities of practice', i.e. informal groups of engaged clinicians. A sociotechnical perspective is beneficial to the analysis of such processes.