Work System Characteristics Impacting the Performance and Quality of the Discharge Letter Process.
Studies on the impact of a Health Information Technology seldom consider socio-technical characteristics of the work system in which the technology is implemented. Yet those dimensions may act as hidden variables that could explain the inconsistency of impact studies' results in terms of performance, quality and satisfaction. This paper reports on the identification of those variables in the discharge letter (DL) process. Human Factors experts performed an analysis of the work system of the DL process in 17 medical units. The DL process is composed of three sub-processes running with work system differing according to the distribution of tasks, the technology implemented and the work organization. Hidden variables identified are: verification by the physician, technology's integration, number of editing cycles, physicians' preferences etc. Those variables can be collected automatically or by questionnaire. Statistical analyses will have to be performed to know which variable explain impact indicators.
INSERM CIC-IT 1403, Lille; Univ Lille Nord de France ; CHU Lille ; UDSL EA 2694 ; F-59000 Lille, France.
Ludivine
L
Watbled
INSERM CIC-IT 1403, Lille; Univ Lille Nord de France ; CHU Lille ; UDSL EA 2694 ; F-59000 Lille, France.
Marie-Catherine
MC
Beuscart-Zephir
INSERM CIC-IT 1403, Lille; Univ Lille Nord de France ; CHU Lille ; UDSL EA 2694 ; F-59000 Lille, France.
Sandra
S
Guerlinger
INSERM CIC-IT 1403, Lille; Univ Lille Nord de France ; CHU Lille ; UDSL EA 2694 ; F-59000 Lille, France.
Laura
L
Douze
Cité, LIMICS (UMR_S 1142), 93430, Villetaneuse, France.
Eric
E
Lepage
Département d'Informatique Biomédicale, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rouen, 76031 Rouen Cedex, France.
Stéfan J
SJ
Darmoni
INSERM CIC-IT 1403, Lille; Univ Lille Nord de France ; CHU Lille ; UDSL EA 2694 ; F-59000 Lille, France.
Romaric
R
Marcilly
D006804:Ergonomics / Q000379:methods*; D005602:France; D063005:Health Information Systems / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D063886:Patient Discharge Summaries / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D057188:Workflow