Grappling with the Future: The Messiness of Pilot Implementation in Information Systems Design

TY - JOUR

T1 - Grappling with the Future: The Messiness of Pilot Implementation in Information Systems Design

AU - Hertzum, Morten

AU - Manikas, Maria Ie

AU - Torkilsheyggi, Arnvør Martinsdóttir á

PY - 2019/6/1

Y1 - 2019/6/1

N2 - Pilot implementation is a method for avoiding unintended consequences of healthcare information systems. This study investigates how learning from pilot implementations is situated, messy, and therefore difficult. We analyze two pilot implementations by means of observation and interviews. In the first pilot implementation, the involved porters saw their improved overview of pending patient transports as an opportunity for more self-organization, but this opportunity hinged on the unclear prospects of extending the system with functionality for the porters to reply to transport requests. In the second pilot implementation, the involved paramedics had to print the data they had entered into the system because it had not yet been integrated with the electronic patient record. This extra work prolonged every dispatch and influenced the paramedics’ experience of the entire system. We discuss how pilot implementations, in spite of their realism, leave room for uncertainty about the implications of the new system.

AB - Pilot implementation is a method for avoiding unintended consequences of healthcare information systems. This study investigates how learning from pilot implementations is situated, messy, and therefore difficult. We analyze two pilot implementations by means of observation and interviews. In the first pilot implementation, the involved porters saw their improved overview of pending patient transports as an opportunity for more self-organization, but this opportunity hinged on the unclear prospects of extending the system with functionality for the porters to reply to transport requests. In the second pilot implementation, the involved paramedics had to print the data they had entered into the system because it had not yet been integrated with the electronic patient record. This extra work prolonged every dispatch and influenced the paramedics’ experience of the entire system. We discuss how pilot implementations, in spite of their realism, leave room for uncertainty about the implications of the new system.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Emergency Medical Services

KW - patient transport

KW - Pilot implementation

KW - sociotechnical systems

U2 - 10.1177/1460458217712058

DO - 10.1177/1460458217712058

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 28592181

SN - 1460-4582

VL - 25

SP - 372

EP - 388

JO - Health Informatics Journal

JF - Health Informatics Journal

IS - 2

ER -