Development of a soft systems model to identify information values, impact and barriers in a health care information system

摘要

A case report of a health care system is presented, where soft systems methodology (SSM) was used to identify the value, impact and barriers to information access and use, as related to quality of health care. The research was focused on the activities of 36 Regional Coordinators for Biomedical Education and Research (RCBERs), located at Mexico's Social Security Institute (IMSS). Using SSM, conceptual models were built up at different levels of resolution representing the activities of the actors in the system. Then, a consensus model was built. This model was tested and brought to the 'real world', hence generating a debate where feasible, desirable changes were proposed to improve the existing situation. The results provided valuable insights on where to base the development of a model to continue research in the field.