Title: Facilitating the evolution of electronic healthcare networks: framing the changing socio-technical system

Authors: Aldo de Moor, Ryan R. Peterson

Addresses: Dept. of Information Management, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands. Dept. of Information Management, Tilburg University, PO Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands

Abstract: Healthcare networks are increasingly supported in their operations by advanced information and communication technologies. However, the adoption and diffusion of enabling technologies in the complex workflows, organisational structures, and professional sub-cultures is not trivial. Electronic healthcare networks are strongly evolving professional communities that involve different stakeholder constituencies in both operational and strategic change processes. The timely involvement of relevant stakeholders and enabling technologies is essential to the successful development of electronic healthcare networks. In this article, the strategic change processes of the sociotechnical system of a successful electronic rheumatology network are analysed. Subsequently, an approach to model and facilitate the evolution of electronic healthcare networks is described. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed.

Keywords: electronic network organisations; socio-technical systems; rheumatology; change processes; stakeholders; workflow modelling; change norms; ontologies; reference models.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2001.001117

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2001 Vol.3 No.5/6, pp.366-385

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

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