Investigating System Development Processes in Healthcare Organizations

Information Systems (IS) have become critical for healthcare organizations. However implementation and adoption of integrated healthcare IS continues to be a non-trivial task. This research suggests that insights into this phenomenon may be achieved using theoretical perspectives related to boundary spanning amongst distinct fields of practice. It further argues that successful use of IS within a healthcare organization requires its IT-practice to act as the boundary-spanning agent for the diverse fields of practice. Using an interpretive case research approach the research examines the nature of the boundaryspanning role played by an organizational IT-practice in Saudi-Arabia. The primary conclusion of the investigation is that successful IS implementation and use requires the organization’s IT-practices to act as effective boundary-spanners. Further it is suggested that such boundary-spanning activities have different modes for development and the maintenance phases