Management of information: analysis of the Joint Commission's standards for information management

In the 1994 Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations published ten standards relating to the management of information. Using Andrew Abbott's systems theory of professions, the article compares the views of information management that were prevalent in hospitals before the publication of the standards with the view of information management represented by the new standards. Five characteristics of the standards are discussed: conceptual view of information management, tension between the unity and diversity of information management activity, lack of specificity about who performs information management activities, separation of professional qualifications from functions, and privileging of information systems concepts and vocabulary. The unfamiliarity of the standards and their inherent ambiquities will give rise to many attempts to interpret their meaning and intent. Five interpretive themes that may arise from the characteristics of the standards are identified: unified diversity in information management, unity in information management, diversity in information management, monotheistic view of information, and information management czar. The future of information management in hospitals will be affected by the jockeying over the interpretation and implementation of the Joint Commission's standards.