Technology, work, and information flows: lessons from the implementation of a wireless alert pager system

  • Authors:

  • Madhu C. Reddy;David W. McDonald;Wanda Pratt;M. Michael Shabot

  • Affiliations:

  • School of Management and Information Systems, University of Missouri-Rolla, 106D Fulton Hall, Rolla, MO;The Information School, University of Washington;The Information School, University of Washington and Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Washington;Departments of Surgery and Enterprise Information Systems, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Biomedical Informatics - Special issue: Human-centered computing in health information systems. Part 2: Evaluation
  • Year:
  • 2005

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Abstract

The combination of collaborative work practices and information technology affect the flow of information in clinical settings. The introduction of a new technology into these settings can change not only established work practices but also the information flows. In this paper, we examine the introduction of a wireless alerts pager in a surgical intensive care unit (SICU). Through a qualitative study, we analyze the effects that this new information tool had on both the work practices in the SICU and the information flow in the unit. We describe four challenges that SICU staff members faced with respect to the alerts pagers. We found that the pager provided new routes of information to SICU staff but in doing so disrupted existing work practices and information flows.