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Talks and Poster Presentations (with Proceedings-Entry):

C. Reidl, M. Tolar:
"Lost in Implementation? Lessons Learned from a Complex IT Implementation Project";
Talk: ITCH 2007, Victoria, BC Canada; 2007-02-15 - 2007-02-18; in: "Today's Information for Tomorrow's Improvements", ITCH 2007 Steering Committee (ed.); (2007), 6 pages.



English abstract:
A lot of money and energy is invested in the planning and implementation of software in the health care sector, however some of the projects never get realized or they do not fulfill the expectations, e.g. of enhanced efficiency. A thorough understanding of the clinical work and its context is necessary for the successful implementation of an information system.
The paper presents findings from a case study dealing with the implementation process of a computerized physician order entry system (CPOE) that will also be used for medical documentation at five municipal oncology clinics. After an enthusiastic start the project has come to a halt at a point where the product chosen to be implemented started to get tailored to the needs of the individual departments.

To get a better understanding of problems emerging during the implementation and standardization process, we analyze them within their broader context focusing on political, organizational, and professional specifics. Therefore the implementation process was reconstructed from interviews with involved actors from various professional backgrounds and an analysis of documents concerning the acquisition process. Historic characteristics and current developments within the national and regional health care sectors were also taken into account. Examples from the case study serve to identify problem areas interfering directly or indirectly with the implementation process.

Keywords:
implementation, electronic patient record, healthcare