Recognizing the system impact of technology adoption on inter-organizational workflow: Exploring U.S. e-prescribing

The study of technology adoption rarely extends beyond its immediate organizational influence. Yet e-prescribing directly connects previously decoupled organizations suggesting that change introduced in one part of the medication management system will ripple to other parts of the system. While role changes are known to be induced by technology, system designers oftentimes overlook the extent of change. Early evidence of looking at the workflow across organizations that are coupled to e-prescribing, evidence for technologically-induced changes are explored using a roles-artifact-routine analytical framework applied to prescribing activities in physician offices and pharmacies. Early observations suggest that this framework offers system designers a practice-based tool to examine the impact of adopting new technologies.