Evaluating collaborative features of critical care systems: a methodological study of information technology in surgical intensive care units.

Abstract

This study evaluates the collaborative features of a critical care system, CV, used in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). In the evaluation, we take a socio-technical perspective--a view that the technical features of the system and social features of the work are fundamentally interrelated. We utilized qualitative data collection and analysis methods. We undertook seven months of observations and conducted more than thirty interviews of healthcare providers in the SICU. We found that there are a wide variety of collaborative activities such as morning rounds and medication administration that a critical care system must support. We further found that CV supports healthcare providers by providing them awareness of others' activities. We discuss the issue of awareness in greater detail. We also provide some recommendations on how to evaluate how well a system supports collaborative features such as multiple perspectives on information, workflow dependences, and context.