Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Theories to Inform Superior Health Informatics Research and Practice pp 219–233Cite as

Actor-Network Theory to Assist in Understanding the Implementation and Adoption of Health Information Systems

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 1123 Accesses

Part of the book series: Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age ((Healthcare Delivery Inform. Age))

Abstract

Given the current pressures on healthcare delivery to be cost effective yet provide high quality, healthcare systems are turning to ICT (information communication technology) to help resolve this conundrum. Such e-health solutions range from being on one-side patient controlled to the other end of the spectrum being provider controlled. However, most agree that these solutions should not only be patient-centric but also should be analysed under the lens of theoretically informed analytical tools. One approach identified in the literature used to facilitate correct and accurate capturing of the complexities and levels of interactions in healthcare operations is to use actor-network theory (ANT).

To demonstrate the benefits and strengths of using the actor-network theory, this chapter evaluates the merits of ANT analysis for the implementation and adoption of health information systems (HIS).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ammenwerth, E., Iller, C., & Mahler, C. (2006). IT-adoption and the interaction of task, technology and individuals: A fit framework and a case study. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 6, 3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • André, B., Ringdal, G. I., Loge, J. H., Rannestad, T., Laerum, H., & Kaasa, S. (2008). Experiences with the implementation of computerized tools in health care units: A review article. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 24(8), 753–775.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Basch, P. (2005). Electronic health records and the national health information network: Affordable, adoptable, and ready for prime time? Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(3), 227–228.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, M., Aarts, J., & van der Lei, J. (2003). ICT in health care: Sociotechnical approaches. Methods of Information in Medicine, 42(4), 297–301. https://doi.org/10.1267/METH03040297.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bloomfield, B. (1991). The role of information systems in the health service: Action at a distance and the fetish of calculation. Social Studies of Science, 21. SRC-GoogleScholar, 701–734.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of St. Brieuc Bay. In J Law (Ed.), Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge (pp. 196–233). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Callon, M. (1999). Actor-network theory–the market test. Actor Network Theory and After, 47, 181–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Callon, M., & Law, J. (1988). Engineering and sociology in a military aircraft project: A network analysis of technological change. Social Problems, 35(3), 284–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Car, J., Anandan, C., Black, A., Cresswell, K., Pagliari, C., McKinstry, B., et al. (2008). The impact of eHealth on the quality & safety of healthcare: A systematic overview and synthesis of the literature, report, NHS Connecting for Health Evaluation Programme. London: Imperial College London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catwell, L., & Sheikh, A. (2009). Evaluating eHealth interventions: The need for continuous systemic evaluation. PLoS Medicine, 6(8), e1000126. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000126

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Coiera, E. (2004). Four rules for the reinvention of health care. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 328(7449), 1197–1199.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, K., Worth, A., & Sheikh, A. (2011). Implementing and adopting electronic health record systems: How actor-network theory can support evaluation. Clinical Governance: An International Journal, 16(4), 320–336.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, K. M., Worth, A., & Sheikh, A. (2010). Actor-network theory and its role in understanding the implementation of information technology developments in healthcare. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 10, 67.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • DesRoches, C. M., Campbell, E. G., Rao, S. R., Donelan, K., Ferris, T. G., Jha, A., et al. (2008). Electronic health records in ambulatory care – A national survey of physicians. New England Journal of Medicine, 359(1), 50–60. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa0802005

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Doolin, B., & Lowe, A. (2002). To reveal is to critique: Actor-network theory and critical information systems research. Journal of Information Technology, 17, 69–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhalgh, T., & Stones, R. (2010). Theorising big IT programmes in healthcare: Strong structuration theory meets actor-network theory. Social science & medicine (1982), 70(9), 1285–1294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, L. M., Ferguson-Paré, M., Peter, E., White, D., Besner, J., Chisholm, A., et al. (2010). Going blank: Factors contributing to interruptions to nurses’ work and related outcomes. Journal of Nursing Management, 18(8), 1040–1047.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harding, S. G. (2004). The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaghan, W., & Bowker, G. (2001). Out of machine age?: Complexity, sociotechnical systems and actor network theory. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 18, 253–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B., Harbers, H., & Koenis, S. (1996). On actor-network theory: A few clarifications. Cambridge: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (1991). A Sociology of monsters: Essays on power, technology, and domination. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (1999). In J. Law & J. Hassard (Eds.), After ANT: Complexity, naming and topology (pp. 1–14). Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J. (2006). Networks, relations, cyborgs: on the social study of technology. Retrieved from http://oro.open.ac.uk/21394/

  • Law, J., & Callon, M. (1992). The life and death of an aircraft: A network analysis of technical change. In Shaping technology/building society: Studies in sociotechnical change (p. 360). Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Law, J., & Hassard, J. (1999). Actor network theory and after. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lorenzi, N., Kouroubali, A., Detmer, D. E., & Bloomrosen, M. (2009). How to successfully select and implement electronic health records (EHR) in small ambulatory practice settings. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 9, 15.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lubitz, D., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2006). Healthcare and technology: The doctrine of networkcentric healthcare. International Journal of Electronic Healthcare, 2, 322–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLean, C., & Hassard, J. (2004). Symmetrical absence/symmetrical absurdity: Critical notes on the production of actor-network accounts. Journal of Management Studies, 41(3), 493–519. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00442.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McPhee, R. D., & Poole, M. S. (2001). Organizational structures and configurations. In The new handbook of organizational communication: Advances in theory, research and methods (pp. 503–543). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, V., & Nault, B. (2008). The emergence of functional knowledge in sociotechnical systems. Cambridge: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mol, A. (2002). The body multiple: Ontology in medical practice. Durham/London: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Monteiro, E. (2000). Actor-network theory and information infrastructure. From Control to Drift, 71–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mort, M., Finch, T., & May, C. (2009). Making and unmaking telepatients: Identity and governance in new health technologies. Science, Technology & Human Values, 34(1), 9–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhammad, I., Teoh, S. Y., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2012). Why using Actor Network Theory (ANT) can help to understand the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) in Australia. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation (IJANTTI), 4(2), 44–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muhammad, I., Teoh, S. Y., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2013). The need for a socio-technical analysis in e-health: The case of the PCEHR. International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications (IJEHMC), 4(2), 65–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutch, A. (2002). Actors and networks or agents and structures: Towards a realist view of information systems. Organization, 9(3), 477.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Protti, D., & Smit, C. (2006). The Netherlands: Another European country where GPs have been using EMRs for over twenty years. Healthcare Information Management & Communications, 30(3). Available at: http://www.healthcareimc.com/bcovers/PDFS/TheNetherlands.pdf

  • Rydin, Y. (2010). Actor-network theory and planning theory: A response to Boelens. Planning Theory, 9, 265–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singleton, V., & Michael, M. (1993). Actor-networks and ambivalence: General practitioners in the UK cervical screening programme. Social Studies of Science, 23(2), 227–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobler, N. (2008). Technology, organizational change, and the nonhuman agent: Exploratory analysis of electronic health record implementation in a small practice ambulatory care. Utah: The University of Utah.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trudel, M. C. (2010). Challenges to personal information sharing in interorganizational settings: Learning from the Quebec Health Smart Card project. London: The University of Western Ontario.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsham, G. (1997). Actor-network theory and IS research: Current status and future prospects. In Information Systems and Qualitative Research: Proceedings of the IFIP TC8 WG 8.2 International Conference on Information Systems and Qualitative Research (pp. 466–481), 31st May–3rd June 1997, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, N., & Bali, R. K. (2009). The S’ANT imperative for realizing the vision of healthcare network centric operations. International Journal of ActorNetwork Theory and Technological Innovation IJANTTI, 1(1), 45–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, N., Bali, R. K., & Lehaney, B. (2009). Knowledge management primer. New York: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, N., & Schaffer, J. (2010). Realizing value driven e-health solutions. Washington DC: IBM Centre for the Business of Government.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, N., Tatnall, A., & Goldberg, S. (2011). The advantages of mobile solutions for chronic disease management. In PACIS 2011 Proceedings. Available at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2011/214

  • Wickramasinghe, N., Tatnall, A., & Goldberg, S. (2012). Understanding the advantages of mobile solutions for chronic disease management: The role of ant as a rich theoretical lens. International Journal of Actor-Network Theory and Technological Innovation, 4(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.4018/jantti.2012010101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, R. (2007). Managing complex adaptive networks. In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Intellectual Capital, Knowledge Management & Organizational Learning (pp. 441–452).

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams-Jones, B., & Graham, J. E. (2003). Actor-network theory: A tool to support ethical analysis of commercial genetic testing. New Genetics and Society, 22(3), 271–296.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia

    Imran Muhammad & Nilmini Wickramasinghe

  2. Epworth HealthCare, Richmond, VIC, Australia

    Imran Muhammad & Nilmini Wickramasinghe

Authors
  1. Imran Muhammad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nilmini Wickramasinghe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Epworth HealthCare, Richmond, Victoria, Australia

    Nilmini Wickramasinghe

  2. Deakin University, Burwood, Australia

    Jonathan L. Schaffer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Muhammad, I., Wickramasinghe, N. (2018). Actor-Network Theory to Assist in Understanding the Implementation and Adoption of Health Information Systems. In: Wickramasinghe, N., Schaffer, J. (eds) Theories to Inform Superior Health Informatics Research and Practice. Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72287-0_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72287-0_14

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72286-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72287-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation