The construction of a network at Health Waikato

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide an explanation and understanding of developments in casemix and related information systems at a large regional hospital, Health Waikato (HW), in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. The themes will be explicated and theorised, drawing on the sociology of translation (Latour, 1987a). A central idea will be the use of accounting techniques to influence decision makers both within and outside the health institutions. The power of accounting in the translation and inscription of data (the fabrication of accounting systems per Preston et al., (1992)), will be a central theme in understanding the role of accounting systems as technology. Drawing from Latour has helped to provide a frame of reference to allow an assimilation of disparate changes and influences as they have come to affect the health sector at a national level, within New Zealand, and also at an organisational level, within a large regional health provider. This paper provides a detailed description of events at the research site, a large regional hospital (HW). The paper consists primarily of a descriptive case study of aspects of the change process as it has impacted on the research site.