Order Creation and Communication in Healthcare

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the adequacy of the concept of Physician Order Entry (POE) as a model for clinical systems, and to suggest an alternative understanding of the order creation and communication process. The study is based on an interpretative analysis of POE as a model for clinical systems and the results of our recent fieldwork. Observations from our recent fieldwork suggest that orders, like patient care in general, emerge from interactions among patients, physicians, nurses, family members, and others, employing a variety of technologies and information resources in the process. Orders as we have observed them originate, are negotiated, and are carried out in a dynamically evolving group with fluctuating membership and shifting role responsibilities. Furthermore, orders by themselves represent only a partial picture of what is done for the patient. We argue that information systems are more likely to be helpful if they accommodate and facilitate POE as a multidisciplinary collaboration effort and fit better into the larger system of patient care.