title: ICT in health care: sociotechnical approaches.
abstract: The importance of the social sciences for medical informatics is increasingly recognized. As ICT requires inter-action with people and thereby inevitably affects them, understanding ICT requires a focus on the interrelation between technology and its social environment. Sociotechnical approaches increase our understanding of how ICT applications are developed, introduced and become a part of social practices. Socio-technical approaches share several starting points: 1) they see health care work as a social, 'real life' phenomenon, which may seem 'messy' at first, but which is guided by a practical rationality that can only be overlooked at a high price (i.e. failed systems). 2) They see technological innovation as a social process, in which organizations are deeply affected. 3) Through in-depth, formative evaluation, they can help improve system design and implementation.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aarts
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Lei
mesh_terms: D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods*; D009426:Netherlands; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D012931:Social Environment; D012942:Social Sciences; D013672:Technology / Q000639:trends*