From: Understanding contexts: how explanatory theories can help
Explanatory principle | Use of the principle |
---|---|
Transfer/sharing of meaning | External knowledge from published literature on clinical guidelines, existing protocols from academic affiliates in the VA system, and discussions with subject matter experts was brought together with internal knowledge about the baseline strengths and limitations of a specific local VA hospital’s environment and its processes of care |
Familiarity | Observed performance (i.e., proportion of prophylaxis-eligible patients whose orders for postoperative care were selected from the new electronic menu) improved demonstrably as staff familiarity with the system increased over time |
Logic | Empirical evidence that anti-thrombosis regimens effectively reduce risk of postoperative thromboembolism (the regularity) was coupled with the increased thromboembolic risk that existed locally in eligible individual postoperative patients (the antecedent condition) |
Separating out environmental components | The contributions of individuals, tasks, and technologies to an effective DVT prophylaxis strategy were re-examined iteratively during implementation of the emerging electronic decision support system |
Unifying components of the environment | The following major components were unified into a coherent model of the local environment that improvers used in implementing the new postoperative DVT prophylaxis strategy: Individuals: surgical residents, who wrote most of the post-operative orders; Task: choosing and ordering clinical interventions appropriate for each patient’s degree of thromboembolic risk; Technology: electronic order menus embedded in a pre-existing electronic medical record |
Adaptation to intended uses | Order menus were modified in response to the results of extensive repeated multilevel user testing; project staff (i.e., surgical residents, pharmacists, and nurses) also received education on the purpose and design of the new order system |