Data Work in Health Care: The Case of Medical Secretaries

This paper investigates the often neglected area of data work by medical secretaries, specifically in the context of hospitals in Denmark. Since the 1930s medical secretaries have played a steadily more central role in meeting the growing need for health data. With electronic health records (EHRs) and promises of data automation, the profession has been put at risk of redundancy. While there is a considerable base of research on the datafication of health care, the data work emerging from datafication remains undescribed. Hence, we are conducting a socio-technical study of clinical-administrative data work in contemporary Danish public hospitals. In this paper we present early insights of this research, indicating the vital role of medical secretaries' data work in securing clinical information at the point of care.