Making sense of health information technology implementation: A qualitative study protocol

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Health Information Technology (HIT) Implementation

Background:

• Implementing health information technology (HIT) in hospitals disrupts coordinated care processes, leading to slow adoption as staff make sense of changes.
• Sensemaking, a social process of seeking meaning, is crucial for unified understanding, learning, and problem-solving, facilitating successful organizational change.
• Project teamwork offers a structured approach for hospital staff to engage in sensemaking, fostering shared understanding and effective action during change initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the sensemaking processes and actions of project teams during the implementation of new health information technology in a tertiary care hospital.
• To utilize sensemaking as a framework for understanding organizational change and teamwork in the context of HIT implementation, moving beyond traditional models.
• To identify patterns of sensemaking and explore variations across different project teams involved in HIT implementation.

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal case study design was employed to investigate project team sensemaking and action.
• Data were prospectively collected through direct observation of project team interactions and review of organizational documents.
• Qualitative methods were used to identify sensemaking patterns, explore variations across teams, and analyze the influence of participant demographics.

Main Results:

• The study will yield new knowledge on the antecedents and consequences of the sensemaking process during HIT implementation.
• Insights will be gained into internal and external factors influencing project teams, such as team composition and interactions with the wider organization.
• Understanding how these factors affect team processes and task accomplishment will be a key outcome.

Conclusions:

• Findings will illuminate the social and evolutionary nature of implementing health information technology.
• The research will provide a deeper understanding of how organizational context influences project team dynamics during change.
• This study aims to develop novel strategies and methods for more effective health information technology implementation in hospital settings.