Technology use, cooperation, and organizational learning in patient safety reporting

Abstract

Technology use, cooperation, and organizational learning are complex constructs that were often oversimplified and resulted in inconsistent findings in past studies. This study employed an innovative approach to building new knowledge about the use of technology in support of cooperative work and organizational learning in a health care setting. This study examined the use of the Patient Safety Network within the University of Missouri Health Care. The findings provide evidence that technology use and cooperation can be operationalized and examined in context and demonstrate how it can be done reliably. The results show the importance of understanding the participation of different roles within a CSCW context and of considering task characteristics. The degree of cooperation depended on how well the basic elements were met. The overall relationship between cooperation and organizational learning was found weak. Finally, the factors of technology use impact levels of cooperation and perceived organizational learning.