In this paper we examine the use of electronic patient records (EPR) by clinical specialists in their development of multidisciplinary care for diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. We develop a practice theory lens to investigate EPR use across multidisciplinary team practice. Our findings suggest that there are oppositional tendencies towards diversity in EPR use and unity which emerges across multidisciplinary work, and this influences the outcomes of EPR use. The value of this perspective is illustrated through the analysis of a yearlong, longitudinal case study of a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, and nurse specialists adopting a new EPR. Each group adapted their use of the EPR to their diverse specialist practices, but they nonetheless orientated their use of the EPR to each others' practices sufficiently to support unity in multidisciplinary teamwork. Multidisciplinary practice elements were also reconfigured in an episode of explicit negotiations, resulting in significant changes in EPR use within team meetings. Our study contributes to the growing literature that questions the feasibility and necessity of achieving high levels of standardized, uniform health information technology use in healthcare.
In this essay, we argue that industry receives little attention in information systems research and theory, despite its increasingly important influence on IS activities. This is evident both in the narrow range of industries examined in IS research and the infrequent consideration of industry in theory. We base these observations on an analysis of IS publications in two top-tier journals (MIS Quarterly and Information Systems Research) over eight years. Drawing from institutional theory, we consider various ways industry can be addressed and assess how industry influences IS activities. We conclude that industry provides an important contextual "space" to build new IS theory and to evaluate the boundaries of existing IS theory. We outline a range of strategies for incorporating industry into IS research.