End-user support: a necessary issue in the implementation and use of EPR systems

A successful integration of an IT-system is dependent not only of the quality of the information and the user interface features of the system but also of the organizations ability to support the users learning process. As IT is becoming more and more pervasive in the Health Care sector as such there is a need for a systematic approach to the question on how to support end-users. Based on an empirical study of an implementation process in a Danish Primary Health Care Services the concept of end-user support is discussed and it is argued that there is a need for a distinction between different kinds of support depending of the type of activity involved. First the organizations strategy for learning when the system was implemented is described. The evaluation of the learning strategy revealed that there was a need for different kinds of knowledge involving qualitatively different kinds of learning. Second the area of end-user support is discussed and it is argued that the common understanding of end-user support as something provided by DP staff, vendors or manuals are to narrow. Third a more differentiated way of thinking of support that link the need for different kind of knowledge and learning processes to different kinds of support is proposed. Finally Activity Theory is put forward as a possible basis that provide the opportunity of discussing issues belonging to different kinds of end-user support within an integrated framework.