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Abstract
Departments at hospitals are getting increasingly more specialized, so in
order to treat patients correctly it is necessary for each of the specialized
departments to increase focus on how to cooperate with other departments.
Hospital work is moreover characterized by being hectic and the personnel
are highly mobile. These factors among others increase the level of complexity
of the cooperative work. To solve this complexity, different
coordinating artefacts are being used, among which the operating schedule
is the primary.
This master thesis focuses on two departments: Thoraxkirurgisk klinik and
Thoraxanæstesiologisk klinik at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen which have
to cooperate in order to treat its patients. One of the aims of this master
thesis is, via CSCW-principles, to analyze how the cooperative work is
carried out between and at these departments and how the patient flow can
be supported by information technology.
To answer this, studies of the relevant literature about hospital work in
general and at these departments in particular are done. In order to increase
the understanding of the departments, a minor field study of the departments
is carried out. In order to support the patient flow, different devices that can
support the personnel in their work are analyzed. The chosen devices include
PDA’s, Smartboard and desktop computers. As a result of this a
conceptual design for these devices is made that supports the personnel in
their cooperative work. Finally a prototype is constructed to demonstrate the
conceptual design.