"Collaboration technology": a case study of innovation in order set and clinical care standardization

Effective standardization of clinical processes, which is a growing priority for healthcare provider organizations and networks, requires effective teamwork among clinicians and staff from multidisciplinary backgrounds--often from geographically dispersed facilities--to reach consensus on care practices. Yet, most healthcare provider organizations have no precedence or tools for managing large-scale, sustained, collaborative activities. This presentation explores the human and social implications of technology. It specifically addresses healthcare collaboration and describes how innovative collaboration management technologies can be used in the healthcare industry to accelerate care standardization, order set standardization and other initiatives necessary for successful computerized provider order entry and electronic health record deployments. These topics are explored through presentation of a survey of healthcare executives and a case study of an advanced collaboration application that was adapted and deployed in a partnership between a large healthcare provider organization and a commercial developer of document management and collaboration management technologies.