Evolving competencies to align electronic medical records - a dynamic resource-based perspective on hospitals'...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Systems Management
• Organizational Studies

Background:

• Advanced Electronic Medical Records (EMR) offer significant hospital benefits but require continuous adaptation.
• Maintaining optimal alignment between EMRs and evolving hospital strategies, goals, and stakeholder needs is crucial.
• Organizational competencies for alignment are essential for managing EMR complexities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the evolutionary paths of alignment competencies in hospitals implementing advanced EMR systems.
• To identify the key drivers influencing these evolutionary paths.
• To apply the theoretical perspective of co-evolutionary information systems alignment (COISA).

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal, multiple case study design was employed.
• Three Dutch hospitals that recently implemented advanced EMR systems were studied.
• Data collection involved 35 in-depth interviews across two phases and analysis of EMR implementation documentation.

Main Results:

• Each hospital exhibited a unique evolutionary path for its COISA capability.
• Two hospitals extended their COISA capabilities to an ecosystem level, collaborating with other hospitals using the same EMR.
• Key drivers identified include stakeholder initiative, accumulated experience, driving events, and emerging issues.

Conclusions:

• Findings provide practical guidance for healthcare practitioners to deliberately shape COISA capabilities for effective EMR alignment.
• The study contributes to the understanding of co-evolutionary alignment approaches through its longitudinal methodology.