THE ROLES OF DISCURSIVE AND INTERPRETATIVE ACTIVITIES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF INDIVIDUAL REPRESENTATIONS INTO COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF AN IS PROJECT IN HEALTH

Abstract

The health sector is currently undergoing regular technological transformations with a view to improving the efficiency of care and achieving economies of scale. This article is part of a “cognitive approach of the organization” [1] in order to analyse the dynamics of the transformation process of individual representations into collective representations. We examine this dynamic through discursive and interpretative activities during the configuration phase of a new information system for the computerized patient record (CPR). In this article, our focus is on the confrontation of actors’ representations around an IS project within a Groupement Hospitalier Territorial (GHT) through a qualitative methodology based on semi-directive interviews and observation of project meetings. A thematic analysis of the data allows us to distinguish different types of individual and collective perceptions during formal and informal meetings and exchanges around the new CIO project. We also identified several roles of discursive and interpretative activities: the confrontation of individual representations; the sharing of technical knowledge; a negotiation between the different identities represented; a synchronization of information related to the organization of the project; the facilitation of decision-making. We wish to provide health project managers with tools to understand and describe the creation of collective representations during discursive and interpretative activities within teams in order to improve the design and appropriation of an IS.