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Between representation, reorganization and control: the informal technification of intensive care units and the consequences
[journal article]
Abstract "Relying upon an ethnographical study in the field of intensive care medicine, the paper shows how economic requirements are restructuring medical knowledge and practice on intensive care units (ICUs). As such, emphasis is placed on the special role that the IT network plays in this reorganizing pr... view more
"Relying upon an ethnographical study in the field of intensive care medicine, the paper shows how economic requirements are restructuring medical knowledge and practice on intensive care units (ICUs). As such, emphasis is placed on the special role that the IT network plays in this reorganizing process. The digitalization process allows linking the monitoring system, not only with the electronic patient record, but also with the management information system beyond the ward. Thereby, the former socially and ethically closed sphere of the ICU is opened up to organisational and economical requirements. Presenting two examples from the case-study, the paper illustrates how the IT network allows the accounting department to control the organization of work on the ICU as well as displaying the way in which medical classification systems are transformed into economic indicators. Furthermore, the paper explicitly shows how the medical and nursing stuff deal with the conflict of objectives that result from this digitalization and economization process." [author's abstract]... view less
Keywords
intensive care medicine; information technology; sociotechnical system; economization; digitalization; information system; mechanization
Classification
Medical Sociology
Sociology of Science, Sociology of Technology, Research on Science and Technology
Document language
English
Publication Year
2007
Page/Pages
p. 53-61
Journal
The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society, 3 (2007) 6
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works