Persistent institutional breaches: Technology use in healthcare work.

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Science and Technology Studies

Background:

• Mobile phone applications (apps) are increasingly used in healthcare settings.
• Their integration challenges established professional practices and institutional norms.
• Understanding these disruptions is crucial for navigating technology in medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore institutional breaches caused by app usage in doctor-patient interactions.
• To analyze the dynamics of legitimacy-claiming and regulatory responses.
• To examine how technology adoption impacts healthcare work and norms.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative analysis of healthcare professionals' normative judgments.
• Examination of institutional legitimacy-claiming and safeguarding responses.
• Case-building analysis of technology adoption dynamics.

Main Results:

• Institutional breaches, though minor, offer insights into healthcare, regulation, and technology intersections.
• Legitimacy is a key factor in the persistence of breaches, driven by moral dimensions.
• Asymmetrical dynamics between healthcare narratives fuel these breaches.

Conclusions:

• Institutional breaches serve as sites for experimentation and contestation of healthcare norms.
• Patterns of technology indulgence in healthcare work are evident.
• The study underscores the complex relationship between technology, regulation, and medical practice.