| Healthcare information systems (HISs), as a class of systems, are not currently addressed in the MIS literature. This is in spite of a sharp increase in use over the past few years, and the uniquely qualified role that MIS has in the development of, impact and general understanding of HISs. In this project the design science paradigm frames the development of a set of design principles derived from the synthesis of the design literature, ethics literature, and professional guidelines, from both the medical and computing professions. The resulting principles are offered to address the design of healthcare information systems. Action research, a widely accepted methodology for testing design principles derived from the design science paradigm, is employed to test the HIS principles and to implement change in a healthcare organization through the use of an HIS. The action research project was a collaborative effort between a Central Florida hospice and the researcher, the result of which was an advanced directives decision support system. The system was design to meet a number of organizational goals that ranged from tracking compliance with federal regulations to increasing the autonomy of the patients that used the system. The result is a set of tested design principles and lessons learned from both anticipated and unanticipated consequences of the action research project. |
