Promoting Success in the Introduction of Health Information Systems

2. The Nature Of Systems Development

The available literature reports several unsuccessful cases in the introduction of health information systems (Avison & Young, 2007; Day, 2007; Heeks, 2006). This lack of success is mainly explained by a development process lag between the final organization and the organization for which the system was developed. This lag stems primarily from social and human questions that do not receive the appropriate consideration (Brooke & Maguire, 1998).

The development of systems is generally approached as a technological question. However, the body of literature reveals another perspective, according to which information systems should be primarily regarded as social systems (Kukafka, 2003; Ryan, 2010). The influence of this interpretative perspective in practice has been growing. This work intends to follow and deepen this perspective. If information systems are more than a decision-making support tool and if the projects go beyond the applications of the system development cycle described in manuals, then technicians need to understand a whole new set of questions, mainly social and organizational questions.

Figure 1 depicts a set of fields, without assuming an exhaustive character, and reveals that the development of systems, even in a relatively static situation, is a complex area. But considering that most organizations work in dynamic environments, the degree of complexity is significantly higher.

Figure 1.

Areas that influence system development