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The use of information systems in healthcare lags behind other business sectors. One of the possible reasons is that healthcare traditionally has been a "networked" organization with no "central command." The introduction and use of IS has been shaped by the different powerful actors determining the delivery of care: professional groups (such as physicians, pharmacists, and, to a lesser extent, nurses), healthcare organizations, insurance companies (private and/or public) and regulating bodies (including governments). Each of the actors has different knowledge reference frameworks and knowledge that seems difficult to integrate. Private businesses are more rooted in the concept of"single line of command" and are moving swiftly into networked knowledge based organizations to meet the demands of a dynamic marketplace. What has happened in healthcare suggests that the development and implementation of IS will become increasingly difficult as businesses move toward networked organizations. The four panelists are researching IS in healthcare from different theoretical angles. They propose that healthcare as an example of a networked organization bears important lessons for the IS field.

DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35505-4_31

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