Supporting Safety in Health Care Transformations.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare technology
• Sociotechnical systems
• Organizational learning

Background:

• Healthcare is undergoing rapid technological transformation, introducing new risks and unpredictability.
• Unintended consequences of technology implementation require adaptive learning strategies at various organizational levels.
• Ethnographic studies are vital for understanding complex healthcare environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze cognitive-socio-technical healthcare practices as learning ecologies.
• To investigate the intentional and unintentional roles of technology in healthcare settings.
• To highlight the context-dependency of technological impacts on clinical workflows.

Main Methods:

• Ethnographic study of support-work in surgery across Danish hospitals.
• Analysis of cognitive-socio-technical practices and learning ecologies.
• Case study approach examining disruptions and learning instances.

Main Results:

• Technological implementation in healthcare leads to workflow and collaboration disruptions.
• These disruptions serve as catalysts for learning at different contextual levels.
• Context-dependent analysis reveals the nuanced impact of technology on patient safety.

Conclusions:

• Increased awareness of support at different contextual levels is essential for effective healthcare transformation.
• Learning strategies must address unintended consequences of technology to reestablish team and patient safety.
• Cognitive-socio-technical perspectives are key to navigating healthcare's technological evolution.