Health Information Systems Interoperability: Towards a Managing as Designing Approach
Science and Information Technology
Grace Kobusinge is defending her PhD thesis in informatics.
Grace Kobusinge is defending her PhD thesis in informatics.
The thesis tackles the enduring topic of Information Systems (IS) interoperability. The COVID-19 pandemic has reiterated the value of interoperable healthcare systems to the overall public good. Yet, healthcare organizations still experience data sharing challenges. Given the contextual nature of interoperability, scholars emphasize the salience of contextual understanding and effective management during the design process. Through empirical investigations the thesis elucidates how health information systems (HIS) interoperability implementation can be enhanced through a managing as designing – MaD perspective and a better understanding of context.
The thesis proposes a MaD approach to IS interoperability implementation that seeks to motivate IS implementers to analyse the context of interaction and delineate context-appropriate interoperability solutions. The proposed approach seeks to encourage collaboration between healthcare managers and HIS designers to jointly purse overall healthcare interoperability objectives through a design attitude. The proposal of the design attitude is intended to inspire reflective thinking that synthesizes the particulars of the context during the implementation process. The thesis contributes to understanding the dynamics of IS interoperability implementation not only in healthcare but also in similar complex contexts.