research-article

The Collaborative work of Hospital Porters: Accountability, Visibility and Configurations of Work

Authors:

Martin FossAuthors Info & Claims

CSCW '16: Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing

Pages 965 - 979

https://doi.org/10.1145/2818048.2820002

Published: 27 February 2016 Publication History

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the collaborative work of hospital porters. The profession of hospital porters is understudied in sociology and in Computer Supported Cooperative Work, despite numerous studies of healthcare IT. We describe how a new IT system for hospital logistics provided porters with more influence on, and responsibility for their work; supported collaboration among porters, clinicians, and middle management; and effected a new ecology of visibility and accountability of porters' work. We discuss how the new system simultaneously supported collaboration and generated representations and accounts of porters' work. We compare the particular work arrangement in this study with other studies of porters' work, show the widely different configurations of how IT and work can be organized, and argue for the benefit of making comparative studies within CSCW. Finally, we argue for moving beyond dualisms of coordination and accountability for work.

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The Collaborative work of Hospital Porters: Accountability, Visibility and Configurations of Work
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Collaborative and social computing theory, concepts and paradigms
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing and business

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cover image ACM Conferences

CSCW '16: Proceedings of the 19th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing

February 2016

1866 pages

ISBN:9781450335928

DOI:10.1145/2818048

General Chairs:
Darren Gergle
Northwestern University
,
Meredith Ringel Morris
Microsoft Research
,
Program Chairs:
Pernille Bjørn
University of Copenhagen
,
Joseph Konstan
University of Minnesota

Copyright © 2016 ACM.

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Published: 27 February 2016

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February 27 - March 2, 2016

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CSCW '16 Paper Acceptance Rate 142 of 571 submissions, 25%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 2,235 of 8,521 submissions, 26%

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3637428
Cheon E(2023)Powerful Futures: How a Big Tech Company Envisions Humans and Technologies in the Workplace of the FutureProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36101037:CSCW2(1-35)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610103
Abdulgalimov DKirkham RNicholson JBartindale TOlivier P(2023)OurStrategy: Employee Voice In Transnational Strategy DevelopmentProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581487(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581487
Mastrianni AAlmengor LSarcevic A(2022)Alerts as Coordination MechanismsProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34928286:GROUP(1-14)Online publication date: 14-Jan-2022
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Uhde ASchlicker NWallach DHassenzahl MBernhaupt RMueller FVerweij DAndres JMcGrenere JCockburn AAvellino IGoguey ABjørn PZhao SSamson BKocielnik R(2020)Fairness and Decision-making in Collaborative Shift Scheduling SystemsProceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3313831.3376656(1-13)Online publication date: 21-Apr-2020
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