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/lp/iospress/national-electronic-health-record-systems-as-wicked-projects-the-A5Sve0RNML
- Publisher
- IOS Press
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2016 IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved
- ISSN
- 1570-1255
- eISSN
- 1875-8754
- DOI
- 10.3233/IP-160389
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
Governments around the world are investing in large scale information andcommunication technology projects that are intended to modernize andstreamline healthcare through the provision of nationally accessibleelectronic health records. In this way, they hope to `tame' the complex`wicked' problems facing healthcare, such as rising costs and fragmenteddelivery. However, these projects often encounter difficulties. Using a casestudy of Australia's 20-year journey towards a national electronic healthrecord system, we show how these projects can ironically take on thecharacteristics of the `wicked problems' they are intended to solve, and howa failure to recognize and cope with these `wicked' characteristics can leadto waste, conflict and frustration among potential users. We suggest somealternative approaches to the management of large-scale ICT projects inhealthcare and other public service sectors that deal with complex,sensitive data.
Journal
Information Polity – IOS Press
Published: Jan 1, 2016