Business & Management Research Centre: Rebekah Eden
Rebekah Eden
University of Queensland
A Case Study of Values Work in IT-enabled Change-as-Renewal: An Illustration in the Context of Electronic Medical Records
Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm EDT
Location: Bronfman Building, Room 046
Abstract:
Despite the marked uptake of electronic medical record systems (EMRs) and the rhetoric behind EMRs improving the efficiency and effectiveness of patient care, a more precarious reality exists at the frontline of healthcare organizations. This precarious reality emanates from the multiple, ever-present, and contested value priorities that are traded-off in the use of technology. We examine the research question of how are multiple values and use connected over time during the IT-enabled transformation involving EMRs? Our insights were generated from an intensive case study of the transformation of a large health service in Australia, involving interviews with over 100 participants across three phases of data collection. Through grounded theory analysis, we identified that, rather than transform, the hospital engaged in change-as-renewal seeking to deepen their commitment to their existing values through using technology. We theorised a process model of change-as-renewal, which provides an actionable account of the values work undertaken by entrepreneurial values custodians to: 1) create a new digital health value in service of the hospital’s existing value system; 2) maintain existing values when value threats emerged during the use of the ieMR; and, 3) elevate the new digital health value at the field level. Our paper contributes to literature by revealing the actors and actions involved in change-as-renewal. These insights hold important implications for practitioners as it demonstrates the purposeful work necessary to overcome the precarity surrounding the implementation and use of EMRs.
