Transforming work practices of operating room teams: the case of the Da Vinci robot

Abstract

Information systems researchers interested in the materiality of digital technology have frequently emphasized the need to study work practices and take a sociomaterial perspective on practice change. We address this need in our study on the introduction of a Da Vinci robot, an endoscopic surgical system for minimally invasive surgery, in a hospital operating theatre. Building on the insights from an ethnographic study in a major teaching hospital, we report on the process of how surgery practice changed following the introduction of the Da Vinci robot. We suggest that the robot brings about a new spatial distribution of roles and activities next to and away from the patients' body, mediates and transforms existing work relations, thus forcing a new order of space use, altering visibility and yielding expertise movement. Our findings have implications for understanding how digital technology transforms work practices in general and in complex medical teamwork in particular.