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This discussion paper considers the adoption of socio-technical perspectives and their theoretical and practical influence within the discipline of health informatics. . The paper highlights the paucity of discussion of the philosophy, theory and concepts of socio-technical perspectives within health informatics. Instead of a solid theoretical base from which to describe, study and understand human-information technology interactions we continue to have fragmented, unelaborated understandings. This has resulted in a continuing focus on technical system performance and increasingly managerial outputs to the detriment of social and technical systems analysis It has also limited critical analyses and the adaptation of socio-technical approaches beyond the immediate environment to the broader social systems of contemporary society, an expansion which is increasingly mandated in today’s complex health environment.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Complex systems, evaluation studies, medical informatics, sociotechnical, theory
Research Division:	Information and Computing Sciences
Research Group:	Information systems
Research Field:	Information systems philosophy, research methods and theory
Objective Division:	Education and Training
Objective Group:	Schools and learning environments
Objective Field:	Management, resources and leadership
UTAS Author:	Whetton, SG (Dr Sue Whetton)
ID Code:	66928
Year Published:	2010
Deposited By:	UTAS Centre for Rural Health
Deposited On:	2011-02-18
Last Modified:	2012-10-02
Downloads:	363 View Download Statistics