Sociotechnical Requirements Analysis for Clinical Systems

OBJECTIVE We explore sociotechnical requirements by examining the use of a computerized patient record system in an intensive care unit of a U.S. hospital and present two sociotechnical requirements, awareness and coordination, embedded in the users' work. METHOD The study is based on observation during seven months of the use of a computerized patient record system in a surgical intensive care unit. During that period semi-formal interviews, informal interviews were held. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS A key step in the design of clinical systems is the development and analysis of requirements. However, traditional requirements analysis is based on a set of assumptions that break down in the highly collaborative, exception-filled clinical domain. Sociotechnical requirement analysis enabled the designers to gather a much richer description of the environment surrounding the computer system, highlighting awareness and coordination, embedded in the users' work.

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