The global healthcare industry is charging ahead on the path to practice-wide and nationwide computerization on the heels of developments in

electronic health record An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared throu ...

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to rev ...

, and ubiquitous computing fields. While the prospects for benefits such as increased quality of care and increased return on investments abound, the critical need to deal with the underlying socio-technical implications of these technologies and how they affect workflow, coordination, and collaboration in medical practice must be addressed by systems designers, healthcare decision makers, and care providers. Medical computer supported cooperative work, or medical CSCW is a term that may be used to describe this area of research. Methodology Much of the research in CSCW is based on ethnographic methods for investigating organizational and technological settings. These methods include qualitative data collection through observation, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews, as well as analysis using a grounded theory approach.

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