I had been wondering when or if anyone would pick up that particular
gauntlet. I haven't said anything because I don't feel like I have any
good answers. But I think you make some excellent points. I believe that
one of the biggest factors in the success of DHCP/VistA in the VA was that
it was developed as a grass roots effort by health care providers. It did
what clinicians wanted and needed because they developed the
software.Similarly, I think Linux provides what its users want in an OS
because it is developed and maintained by its users. There are standard
methods of requirements gathering and analysis (such as use case modeling,
for example) which are intended to aid software developers (throughout the
life cycle) in building products that will suit users needs. Still, I have
to wonder if it is reasonable to expect that a team of analysts with no
clinical background (or background in hospital administration) would able
to design useful hospital systems. I've seen a number of attempts that
fell short.
I say this with some trepidation because my background is technical, not
clinical. I'd be interested in seeing a discussion of how to structure
development teams (and, more generally, how to approach development
2 the life cycle) in a health care environment. I do believe that
technical expertise is also essential to any development effort, but it
isn't realistic to expect clinicians to be engineers (though I do know
doctors who are very able programmers) or vice versa.
Thoughts?
---
Gregory Woodhouse
[EMAIL PROTECTED] / http://www.wnetc.com/home.html
A faith which destroys reason destroys itself and the humanity of man.
--Paul Tillich
