Perceptual structure of the desired functionality of internet-based health information systems.

With the emergence of the Internet, new health information systems are being designed and implemented that focus on coordination between providers, patients, payors and other constituents. While the importance of end user input in identifying the desired functionality of systems has long been recognized, very little work focuses on how users perceive the desired functionalities of these new systems to group together, and the implications of these groupings for the organization of functionalities into program modules and associated user interfaces. In this paper, we advance the construct, user based perceptual structure of desired functionality, in the context of these new coordination-intensive health information systems. Perceptual structure depicts how users perceive different desired system functions to group together. A conceptual framework is advanced which links perceptual structure to two broad categories of components, external coordination and internal coordination, which are related to prospective beliefs about system value. The framework is tested empirically via two field studies conducted by a hospital chain focusing on two major user groups, physicians and office administrators. The setting involves a proposed Internet-based health information system that links various constituencies in the service delivery chain. The empirically generated perceptual structure is found to be largely supportive of its conceptual counterpart. Implications for the design and development of this new class of systems, and public policy implications of such new systems are presented.