"Computers can land people on Mars, why can't they get them to work in a hospital?": Implementation of an Electronic Patient Record System in a UK Hospital

Objectives: This paper aims to describe and interpret the implementation of a hospital information system in a large UK hospital. Methods: The paper is based on a longitudinal case study over a three-year period in which a cross section of hospital staff involved with the information system were interviewed. Results and Conclusions: Ambitious government targets for the use of Information Technology in the UK National Health Service sit alongside a history of notable project failures. The decision by a UK hospital to install on advanced, integrated electronic patient record system therefore faced conflicting demands and expectations. This paper suggest that its simple categorisation as either a success or failure is problematic. Rather, the differing viewpoints that lead some clinicians to express " disappointment" with its performance, while others described its features as "tremendous" and manager suggested that the system had become "taken for granted" are explored. A number of broader phenomena relating to the organisational processes surrounding information systems implementation are also identified