Trust and Clinical Information Systems

Abstract

Our study of the use of clinical decision support systems by general practitioners in New Zealand reveals the pervasive nature of the issue of trust. “Trust” was a term that spontaneously arose in interviews with end users, technical support personnel, and system suppliers. Technical definitions of reliability are discussed in our chapter, but the very human dimension of trust seems at least as significant, and we examine what is bound up in this concept. The various parties adopted different means of handling the trust question, and we explain these. Some paradoxical aspects emerge in the context of modern information systems, both with the question of trust and with the provision of technical or organisational solutions in response to the existence of trust. We conclude by considering what lessons may be drawn, both in terms of the nature of trust and what this might mean in the context of information systems.