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collective mindfulness has rarely been applied in health informatics. As shown in the
case discussed in this paper, a process of translation may be necessary to make the theory
applicable to HIT implementations. Through this act of translation, the case shows how
the theory of collective mindfulness can enrich our understanding of organisational
processes of adoption and adaptation post-implementation. Indeed, the case also suggests
the theory’s potential to explain and support the entire HIT project life-cycle – from
design, to implementation and evaluation. For example, some of the experiences of the
scanning team are akin to those eliciting requirements for system development, or those
pre-implementation steps when decisions are taken on what needs to be done, including
the necessary changes to workflows. It also shows how theory-based qualitative
evaluations of HIT projects based on dimensions of collective mindfulness can explain
implementation outcomes.
Healthcare services are high reliability-seeking organisations, struggling to
eliminate errors and low-quality patient care. Improving patient safety is the main
objective underlying many health IT initiatives – i.e. technology has been endorsed with
the key task of helping healthcare organisations achieve safe and reliable patient
outcomes. The theory of collective mindfulness explains how HROs achieve reliability
of operations. A dimension of these organisations’ ‘success’ is the capability to manage
‘the unexpected’ despite uncertain and risky conditions. Building on these foundations,
we conclude this chapter with a proposal for a twofold definition of success for HIT
projects, that others may wish to test:
HIT is successful when it fosters reliable and safe patient outcomes by
sustaining collective mindfulness capabilities.
HIT implementations are successful not when they avoid ‘the unexpected’
(perhaps an impossibility) but when they manage the unexpected-related
challenges through a mindful collective mind.
Teaching questions for reflection
1. What recommendations for HIT practice could be drawn from the application
of the theory of collective mindfulness to the implementation of health IT?
2. How can the theory of collective mindfulness assist in evaluating the impact of
HIT?
3. What would be the metrics for a mindfulness scale aimed at measuring HIT
implementations? And could the scale be used to predict outcomes of HIT
project ‘success’ or ‘failure’?
4. How could the theory of collective mindfulness to HIT implementations be
translated to consider ‘organisations’ that are ill-defined, such as in telecare for
community care, or in the implementation of patient facing systems, such as a
patient portal?
Acknowledgments
Valentina Lichtner received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research
and innovation programme under the Marie-Skłodowska Curie Grant Agreement number
740131. V.LichtnerandJ.I.Westbrook /CollectiveMindfulnessandProcessesofSensemaking 107
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book Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners"
Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics
Knowledge Base for Practitioners
- Title
- Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics
- Subtitle
- Knowledge Base for Practitioners
- Authors
- Philip Scott
- Nicolette de Keizer
- Andrew Georgiou
- Publisher
- IOS Press BV
- Location
- Amsterdam
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY-NC 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-1-61499-991-1
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 242
- Category
- Informatik