Information and Knowledge Management using ArcGIS ModelBuilder

Kate Dymoke-Bradshaw and Ann Brown
To be successful, the IS must include key functionality and work smoothly and efficiently under real
conditions of use (Greenhalgh et al., 2008). These questions probe the extent to which the
organisation’s key requirements are understood and how well they are met by the technology,
identifying potential problems and issues and allowing any significant gaps to be addressed early on.
3.2 Attributes of the technology as an innovation
What are the main benefits of the new system over current practice? Are these benefits clear to the users of
the system?
Are there any groups who will not gain benefits directly? Are the overall benefits clear to them?
Will the project be able to take an incremental approach to implementation, keeping each stage as simple as
possible?
What can be done to make the system easy to learn and to use?
What are the changes to existing values and ways of working for different stakeholder groups? Where will most
change be required? How can these changes be best managed?
How can the new system and ways of working be tried out and if necessary modified
(a) before initial implementation
(b) during roll-out
What plans are there to demonstrate the new system and ways of working more widely before it is
implemented?
What steps will be taken to demonstrate that benefits are being achieved in practice once the system is in use?
What potential is there to configure the system to the needs of individual users?
It will be easier to adopt a new IS where its benefits are clear and can be directly observed.
Emphasising the benefits of implementing the IS to patients and to the delivery of healthcare is an
important factor in building clinical engagement (Siriwardena, 2009). Healthcare IS projects are more
likely to be successful if they can be delivered in incremental steps, minimising the amount of change
required at once, keeping processes and procedures involving use of the system as simple as
possible and allowing for learning from one step to the next (Heeks, 2006). A new IS is also more
likely to be successfully adopted if it can be tried out in a meaningful way before it is implemented,
and there is capacity for individual users to configure it to their own needs (Greenhalgh et al., 2008).
3.3 Concerns of potential adopters
How are the concerns of key stakeholders and stakeholder groups being identified?
What are the main concerns of the key stakeholder groups at the moment? How will these concerns be verified
and how will they be addressed by the project?
How will concerns continue to be identified and addressed as the project progresses from initiation through to
initial implementation and roll-out?
How will experiences and issues encountered (and addressed) in other healthcare organisations adopting
similar systems be used by the project and shared with stakeholders?
The political nature of IS implementation in healthcare needs to be managed in order to avoid failure
“through ‘resistance’ and even ‘sabotage’ by users who are not taken seriously” (Berg, 1999). It is
therefore important understand and address the concerns of users and other stakeholders, so that
participants can see tangible outcomes as a result of their engagement not only initially but also over
time (CRG Research Limited and Cardiff University Centre for Health Sciences Research, 2008).
3.4 Communication and influence
What plans are there to raise and maintain awareness of the project?
What are current attitudes towards the project? Are expectations realistic? How will the project manage
attitudes and expectations?
Who are the champions and opinion leaders who could change people’s attitudes to adoption? How can they
be used most effectively?
General communication (presentations, newsletters, system demonstrations, etc.) and the
interpersonal influence of project champions, opinion leaders and others (Greenhalgh et al., 2008)
can be used to help reduce resistance to the new IS and to improve engagement.
3.5 Organisational antecedents for innovation
What is the organisation's previous experience with IS implementation? Has it previously been successful in
implementing projects of similar size and complexity?
Is the organisation used to working in ways that this project requires (e.g. in interprofessional teams, across
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