Involving clinicians in the development of an electronic clinical handover system - thinking systems not just...

While the need to 'involve the user' in information technology (IT) development is almost a mantra amongst information systems specialists, numerous IT projects continue to fail because of an inability to capture user insights or respond to users needs. Although there are clearly practical difficulties in addressing and responding to the heterogeneous requirements expressed by different users, marginalizing these views ultimately is to the detriment of the systems built. This paper describes the development of an electronic clinical handover system at the Department of General Internal Medicine (DGIM), Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH). More specifically, the paper aims to highlight how to engage meaningfully with clinicians in the development of a sustainable system. It is anticipated that by drawing attention to the importance of users and by outlining the practical experience of dealing with the diversity of requirements and views expressed, the paper can contribute to a stronger recognition within the domain of eHealth for a user-centred systems approach to IT development.