Electronic Health Records and the Logics of Care: Complementarity and Conflict in the U.S. Healthcare System
Authors: Hansen, Sean; Baroody, A. James
Journal: Information Systems Research (2020)
<jats:p> The U.S. healthcare system has experienced rapid growth in the adoption and use of clinical health information technology, such as electronic health record (EHR) systems. In a field as complex and pluralistic as healthcare, the introduction of these sweeping information technology platforms is transforming the practices, roles, interdependencies, and communication mechanisms that connect a heterogeneous mix of stakeholders. In this study, we assess the impact of EHR adoption and use on the practices in the U.S. healthcare system and the diverse ways of thinking and acting that those practices reflect. Building on our field study of diverse healthcare stakeholders, we propose a mechanism for how information system (IS) use can influence the institutional dynamics of the healthcare system. We argue that this theoretical framework may be fruitfully applied to other national healthcare systems and other classes of enterprise IS. In addition, the study offers a number of practical insights for IS designers and policy makers as EHR system use expands and evolves in the coming years. </jats:p>