Authors:
Haleh Ayatollahi
1
;
Peter A. Bath
1
and
Steve Goodacre
2
Affiliations:
1
University of sheffield, United Kingdom
;
2
Emergency Department, Northern General Hospital, United Kingdom
Keyword(s):
Emergency Department, information system, impact.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Biomedical Engineering
;
Design and Development Methodologies for Healthcare IT
;
Evaluation and Use of Healthcare IT
;
Health Information Systems
Abstract:
Emergency Department Information Systems (EDIS) are commonly used to improve access to patient information at the point of care. While such systems hold great promise, there has been little research evaluating the impact of these systems. To investigate the Emergency Department (ED) staff perceptions of the impact of computerised information systems in this department, a qualitative study was conducted. In this study, data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with the ED staff. In total, 34 interviews were conducted and data were analysed using framework analysis. . The results showed that the impact of information systems could be categorised as individual impact, organisational impact, and impact on patient care. The impact of technology could be positive (e.g., improving the accessibility of information) or negative (e.g., interrupting staff workflow due to system downtime). The results suggest that although clinical information systems are designed to i
nfluence clinical practice positively, the likelihood of the negative impacts should not be underestimated. Evaluation studies are needed to investigate the impact of technology as a measure for system success or failure.
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