Modeling Coordinated Work: Definition and Application of the Model 'Coordinated Work Environment'

摘要

This paper describes a coordination model for collaborative work. The model called "Coordinated Work Environment", utilizes an assembly of several organization units with specific goals and structure, populated by actors, work practices, and artifacts. Coordination work is defined by interde-pendencies existing in work practices, which can be prerequisite, simultaneous, or by means of sharing of resources. Coordination between communities of practice is established through interactions between them by using artifacts from object worlds. Interactions are of different kinds: interactions for action, possibilities, clarification, and orientation. The paper is based both on several ethnographic studies carried out in radiology departments in Austria, Denmark, and Sweden, and on analysis and assessment of computer systems (picture archiving and communication systems, radiology, and hospital information systems) and artifacts used to support communication, coordination, and collaboration in radiographic health care. It describes the elements of a coordinated work environment in detail by illustrating some practical examples from radiology work.