New Study on Electronic Medical Records

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) awarded $79,320 to principal investigator Dr. Guy Paré, HEC Montreal, and his co-investigator Dr. Mirou Jaana, Telfer School of Management, for their research program entitled Revisiting IT Innovation Research: A Research Program in Healthcare Organization.

The objective of this research program is to provide a fresh perspective to the field of information technology (IT) innovation. It investigates two novel constructs, “innovation configurations” and “organization mindfulness”, and applies them to the IT innovation process in Canadian healthcare organizations.

In the first part of the research program, the researchers will make a qualitative comparative analysis of identified combinations of conditions linked to the electronic medical record (EMR) systems successful / failed adoption by Quebec family medicine groups. In the second part of the program, they will conduct a review of empirical research published in medical informatics to identify the extent to which EMR impact research is aligned with the notion of causal structures. Last, they will perform a retrospective analysis of the approach used to implement a similar EMR software system in hospitals in Quebec and Ontario.

This research will impact both theory and practice by expanding knowledge beyond a static and narrow perspective of innovation, and by gaining a better understanding of the conditions that facilitate the IT innovation process.