Adverse Events in Hospitals: The Contribution of Poor Information Systems

Adverse events in hospitals, events in which harm results to a person receiving health care, are well documented (Wilson 1995, Hepler 2001). However, while factors such as lack of training and other human factors (Wilson et al, 1995) have been identified as contributing to this problem, there is a paucity of research attempting to link information systems failure to adverse patient events. This paper examines the co-occurrence of these issues. Specifically, we look at two case studies relating to treatment decisions in two large public hospitals. We examine the incidence of adverse events in hospitals with regard to errors in treatment decisions where information delivery is unreliable. We ask the question: can information delivery problems lead to adverse events for patients? It is important to empirically test the impact of this particular factor in the complex environment of hospitals where a full range of factors may adversely affect patient care. We have reason to believe that poor information systems can have a negative impact on patient care leading to adverse events where data delivery and availability problems exist and are not being addressed by hospital management. Further findings of this paper are that I.S. improvements need to be complimented by cultural changes in hospitals that support the use of computerised systems, and enhanced approaches to I.S. governance in the context of healthcare

Making sense of visual management through affordance theory

Visual management is much used within operations management practice, particularly in association with process improvement initiatives in diverse areas such as production and healthcare. The practitioner literature abounds with suggested best practice. However, there is little attempt to theorise about why the design and use of ‘visual’ devices for such process improvement works in practice. Within this paper we describe a novel theory of operation which highlights the role that material and visual artefacts proposed by visual management practitioners play within particular ways of organising work. We develop an innovative way of employing the theory of affordances to explain how first and second order affordances, situated around the visual devices at the heart of visual management, connect three domains of action, which we refer to as articulation, communication and coordination. Our analysis of three cases from healthcare, clothing manufacturing and software production help ground the theorisation discussed

Using Building Blocks to Construct Effective Learning Objects

Technological developments over the past decade have had a strong impact on education bringing significant opportunities for changing teaching models. This has led to an interest in the development of shareable, scalable and reusable learning objects. This paper builds on the ideas of Parrish (2004) and other recognised theorists in this area who suggest that the production of educational materials needs to promote adaptive learning strategies. We broaden Parrish’s work by testing some of his propositions for object oriented instructional design in the domain of information systems. The contribution of this paper is an extended set of principles for creating multimedia building blocks and aggregating them into learning objects as well as engaging students in the development process. The principles can be used for creating and reusing multimedia building blocks for teaching in many discipline areas. We illustrate the use of these principles by developing and testing a set of learning objects for learning programming. We find that the high cost of creating learning objects noted by Parrish can be ameliorated by using readily available software and Web 2.0 technologies. This approach supports academics developing learning objects without involving professional educational designers and without the added overhead of learning complex software packages

Person-centred Information for Discharge Home

Knowledge leakage is a key risk for start-ups particularly when that knowledge relates to the firm’s innovation and is therefore competitively sensitive. Leakage of competitively sensitive knowledge can lead to financial losses and erosion of competitive advantage. Start-ups are particularly vulnerable to knowledge leakage compared to mature enterprises since they have limited resources to devote to protective measures, rely on relatively fewer product/innovation lines to sustain business success, and experience greater organizational change making it difficult to control the complex and evolving security risk landscape. Current research on (knowledge) leakage mitigation methods don’t adequately address the needs of start-ups. This paper sets out to address the gaps in current research relating to leakage mitigation particularly focusing on IP protection in start-ups. We propose a new knowledge-leakage mitigation framework, the Risk Window, as a precursor to a process model designed to assist start-ups to secure their competitively sensitive knowledge

Using Online Photo Sharing to Support Parents with Type One Diabetic Children

The rise of online photo sharing platforms has encouraged an increasing number of people to share online their lived experience as a carer of a child with a chronic condition. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of using photo sharing platforms to support parents of chronically ill children. We use individual interviews and analysis of Instagram posts to study parents of Type 1 diabetic children who engage in photo sharing. Findings show online photo sharing supports parents in coping with their child’s condition and in sharing their experience with and supporting other parents. Photos have a significant capacity to deliver personal experience and therefore in enhancing relationships between participants. Participants express greater ability of photos over text in validating their experience. More specifically, personal photos create more trust in the provided information. This supports the idea that photo sharing can provide opportunities for emotions-focused coping skills better than text

Adoption of Videoconferencing for Social Connectedness among Older Adults: A Systematic Review

Videoconferencing has been increasingly used for social connectedness in residential aged care (RAC). In sensitive settings such as RAC, it is important that technologies are introduced with careful consideration of people’s needs and experiences with the technology, to ensure that the desired benefits are realised. This paper reviews research evidence about older adults using videoconferencing for social connectedness and issues raised by that use in order to identify strategies RAC providers can adopt to achieve a greater likelihood of sustainability. Fourteen articles were included for in-depth review. Devices featuring videoconferencing in the studies reviewed ranged from tablets to telepresence robots. Most study participants perceived videoconferencing as beneficial for social connectedness. The implementation of videoconferencing in RAC is impacted by differences in sociotechnical systems. This paper contributes key considerations for the future design and implementation of videoconferencing for social connectedness in RAC and opportunities for future work in this area

Meeting Privacy Obligations: The Implications for Information Systems Development

The European Union(EU) Data Protection (Privacy) Directive of 1995 (EUPD) and resulting legislation introduced by member states is designed to ensure that business activity is subject to privacy regulation. The ability of organisations to respond to the requirements of this legislation is affected by the quality of their customer data. This paper explores the issues for IS development created by poor customer data quality as organisations adjust their business practices to meet the new legislative provisions. A number of key issues emerge including managing large amounts of fragmented customer data, understanding what information is required for organisational activities, controlling use and disclosure across the organisation, and allowing anonymity when interacting with customers. Furthermore, several important implications for systems development practitioners are discussed

MEDICAL RECORD SUPPORT FOR EFFECTIVE DISCHARGE PLANNING

Little is known about the Information Technology artefacts which help inform decision-making to sup-port people returning home following a hospital stay. Content, delivery, timing and information about personal circumstances form integral components of person-centred discharge planning. From an Information Systems (IS) perspective, understanding barriers to information flow, artefacts in use and the context in which they are presented to health care professionals is the first step to explore how currently used IS support or fail to support the discharge process. This research-in-progress uses Roy’s Adaption Model and Adaptive Structuration Theory to explore to what extent patient infor-mation documented in the medical record supports and enables person-centred discharge planning. We aim specifically to understand how the medical record shapes discharge planning through clini-cian-to-clinician and clinician-to-patient information sharing to support a patient’s recovery journey when home. Findings suggest that the medical record is insufficient to support and enable person-centred discharge planning. We suggest how these limitations can be overcome to improve person-centred discharge planning to assist and facilitate patients’ transition home

Virtual Reality in Residential Aged Care: a study of adoption and system complexity.

Virtual Reality (VR) has been increasingly adopted by residential aged care facilities (RACFs) for enriching residents’ experiences. RACFs are sensitive settings with complex sociocultural elements, thus aged care providers might experience challenges when introducing new technologies. This paper presents findings from a descriptive analysis of survey responses exploring the complexity brought about by adopting VR in RACFs. By understanding technology-in-use as socio-technical systems, this study draws on the work of Greenhalgh et al. to understand how the adoption of health-care technologies is influenced by complexity across seven domains: condition, technology, value proposition, adopter(s), organization(s), wider system, and adaptation over time. The paper details the design of a new survey instrument. Results indicate that it is challenging to sustain a VR program within RACFs due to the complexity arising from residents’ conditions and the technology itself, and the complicated challenges involving staff who facilitate VR activities and those who provide training

The Significance of Routines for the Analysis and Design of Information Systems: A Preliminary Study

In this paper we argue that traditional information systems design and development is implicitly informed by a certain deliberative theory about the nature of purposeful activity. However, we examine other theories of activity that lead us to challenge this dominant model. This work-in-progress report reinterprets a number of existing case studies from the literature and provides a preliminary account of a new case study in order to demonstrate that successful operational systems in time-constrained environments often do not exhibit those characteristics that are the hallmarks of the deliberative approach. These systems are better discussed in terms of routines and situated action. Finally, we make some preliminary observations about the significance of this for Information Systems