Collaborative Management of Complex Coordination Systems: Operating Room Schedule Coordination

Abstract

The complexity of large-scale technical and collaborative work-systems requires significant effort for coordination, and balancing the differing individual actors' goals and information needs. The process of coordinating a suite of surgical operating rooms (ORs) is one example of such as complex system. Examining the information usage in this setting can provide functional requirements for technology to support these coordination activities. Data from observations and interviews in an OR suite were synthesized into five principal functional requirements for such a technology system. To provide necessary functionality, any new technology system must (a) serve as a common referent for communication, (b) provide a communal memory tool for planning (c) serve as catalyst for collaborative and distributed cognition (d) allow parallel manipulation for multiple user-groups, (e) allow flexible content-reconfiguration. Examples of each function are provided, and theoretical implications discussed.