Technology development and implementation in the public health institutions: a strategic and pedagogical task for the learning organization.
The article presents two overall problem issues for IT in the health sector. A strategic problem: Which organization structure and which work routines should be enhanced by technology? A pedagogical problem: How does the personnel learn to think, act and express work through IT-tools? The suggested solution is to put technology development and implementation together within a theoretical frame for the learning organization where reciprocal demands and terms exist for both the IT-tools and the personnel. The personnel makes demands to which goals should be reached through technology and technology demands that the personnel is acquainted with hardware and software. As a communication system, technology offers new possibilities of realizing other forms of cooperation. The suggested solution is a synthesis between the strategy for organization development through technology and the implementation of IT as a learning process for the personnel. The synthesis between the mutual demands of the organization and its personnel provides for IT-tools which are in concordance with the principal values of the health practice rather than merely economic and management values. The analysis builds on a qualitative, in-depth investigation of IT-implementation in the secondary sector. The investigation indicated that the use of IT is a learning process which requires three types of knowledge and that continued IT-development in the organization requires a new fourth knowledge.
Wentzer
H S
HS
Department of Communication, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark.
D001292:Attitude to Computers; D003200:Computer User Training; D003718:Denmark; D006801:Humans; D008492:Medical Informatics Computing; D008838:Microcomputers; D011634:Public Health; D012984:Software; D018581:Technology Transfer