An autoethnographic account of innovation at the department of veterans affairs

Casertano, Andrew

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/103294 Copy

Description

Title

An autoethnographic account of innovation at the department of veterans affairs

Author(s)

Casertano, Andrew

Issue Date

2019-03-15

Keyword(s)

• Information systems
• Knowledge management
• Innovation
• Autoethnography

Abstract

What is influencing the direction of innovation at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)? I explore challenges at the VA Center of Innovation (VACI) as the US Government Accounting Office (GAO) has designated the VA at high-risk for being susceptible to waste, fraud, and mismanagement. My autoethnographic lens is applied to the VACI open source software application, the Radiology Protocol Tool Recorder (RAPTOR) that my team and I designed and developed from 2010 to 2017. RAPTOR is designed to work with the VistA Electronic Health Record (EHR), considered one of the most important open source healthcare software applications ever. The failure to launch RAPTOR is representative of these susceptibilities and an appropriate example to illustrate VA institutional issues. This poster advances a novel approach of understanding institutional culture and change, using autoethnographic methods to retrospectively analyze over ten years of experience at the VA. I propose three new research questions based on my understanding of VA innovation. The poster provides a structure to understand the major issues influencing information directions; identifies sources and determinants and categorizes attributes into organization, process, technology, and culture. My research is supplemented by the information literature, and I use a conceptual framework explaining the relationships between these factors and the direction of VA IT innovation. The proposed framework serves as a means by which government and public sector information systems managers / Chief Information Officers / Technology and business managers can conduct an introspective exercise within their organization.

Publisher

iSchools

Series/Report Name or Number

iConference 2019 Proceedings

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/103294

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/iconf.2019.103294

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Andrew Casertano

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