Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Design Science Research Opportunities in Health Care

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Theories to Inform Superior Health Informatics Research and Practice

Part of the book series: Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age ((Healthcare Delivery Inform. Age))

Abstract

Design science research (DSR) seeks to grow technology and science knowledge bases via the creation of innovative artifacts that solve problems and improve the environments in which they are instantiated. The field of healthcare offers many opportunities for the use of DSR to design innovations with a goal of improving the effectiveness and efficiencies of healthcare products, services, and delivery. We identify areas of opportunity via a qualitative survey of recent healthcare projects that apply DSR methods. Two cases are explored in more detail to demonstrate the use of DSR in challenging healthcare environments. Goals of purposefulness and innovation are identified in the projects. We conclude with a discussion of how DSR can have a broader impact on future research and practice in healthcare.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 89.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adibi, S., Nguyen, L., Hamper, A., Bodendorf, F., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2017). A systematic approach to terahertz-based glucose monitoring. White paper. Epworth HealthCare.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alberts, R., Fogwill, T., Botra, A., & Cretty, M. (2014, May). An integrative ICT platform for eHealth. In IST-Africa conference proceedings, 2014 (pp. 1–8). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baarah, A., Kuziemsky, C. E., Chamney, A., Bindra, J., & Peyton, L. (2014, April). A design strategy for health information systems to address care process management. In 2014 5th international conference on information and communication systems (ICICS) (pp. 1–6). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Zion, R., Pliskin, N., & Fink, L. (2014). Critical success factors for adoption of electronic health record systems: Literature review and prescriptive analysis. Information Systems Management, 31(4), 296–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, R., Schlieter, H., Burwitz, M., & Esswein, W. (2014, November). Bpmn4cp: Design and implementation of a bpmn extension for clinical pathways. In 2014 IEEE international conference on bioinformatics and biomedicine (BIBM) (pp. 9–16). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitschwerdt, R., Iedema, R. A., Robert, S., Bosse, A., & Thomas, O. (2012). Mobile IT solutions for home health care. In Advances in health care management: Management issues in health information technology—The international context (pp. 171–187). Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bui, D. V., Iacob, M. E., van Sinderen, M., & Zarghami, A. (2013, March). Achieving flexible process interoperability in the homecare domain through aspect-oriented service composition. In International IFIP working conference on enterprise interoperability (pp. 50–64). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, N. (2001). Designerly ways of knowing: Design discipline vs. design science. Design Issues, 17(3), 49–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Moraes, J. L. C., de Souza, W. L., Pires, L. F., & do Prado, A. F. (2013a, July). An architecture for health information exchange in pervasive healthcare environment. In International conference on enterprise information systems (pp. 385–401). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Moraes, J. L. C., de Souza, W. L., Pires, L. F., Cavalini, L. T., & do Prado, A. F. (2013b, June). A novel approach to developing applications in the pervasive healthcare environment through the use of archetypes. In International conference on computational science and its applications (pp. 475–490). Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dong, H., Hussain, F. K., & Chang, E. (2011). A framework for discovering and classifying ubiquitous services in digital health ecosystems. Journal of Computer and System Sciences, 77(4), 687–704.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dünnebeil, S., Sunyaev, A., Leimeister, J. M., & Krcmar, H. (2013). Modular architecture of value- added applications for German healthcare telematics. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 5(1), 3–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emrich, A., Theobalt, A., Leonhardt, F., Knoch, S., Werth, D., & Loos, P. (2014, January). A pervasive mobile assistance system for health and fitness scenarios. In 2014 47th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (pp. 2898–2907). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fitterer, R., & Rohner, P. (2010). Towards assessing the networkability of health care providers: A maturity model approach. Information Systems and E-Business Management, 8(3), 309–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaskin, G. L., Longhurst, C. A., Slayton, R., & Das, A. K. (2011). Sociotechnical challenges of developing an interoperable personal health record: lessons learned. Applied Clinical Informatics, 2(4), 406–419.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gregor, S., & Hevner, A. (2013). Positioning and presenting design science research for maximum impact. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 337–355.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hai-Hong, E., Song, M. N., Song, J. D., Luo, X. X., & Zhang, X. Q. (2009, August). A new service delivery open platform (SDOP) architecture. In IEEE International Symposium on IT in Medicine & Education, 2009. ITIME’09 (Vol. 1, pp. 404–409). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heldal, I., Lundberg, L., & Hagiwara, M. (2015, October). Technologies supporting longitudinal collaboration along patients’ pathway: Planning training for prehospital care. In International conference on intellectual capital and knowledge management and organisational learning (pp. 108–116). Kidmore End: Academic Conferences International Limited. Bangkok, Nov 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hevner, A. (2007). A three cycle view of design science research. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 19(2), 87–92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hevner, A., March, S., Park, J., & Ram, S. (2004). Design science in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 28(1), 75–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holmberg, N., Steen, O., & Carlsson, S. (2011, May). Service orienting the Swedish vaccination recommendation activity with the business rules centric digital service VacSam. In International conference on design science research in information systems (pp. 376–386). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kao, H. Y., Cheng, Y. T., & Chien, Y. K. (2014, June). Develop and evaluate the mobile-based self- management application for tele-healthcare service. In International conference on industrial, engineering and other applications of applied intelligent systems (pp. 460–469). Berlin: Springer International Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Krey, M., Keller, T., Harriehausen, B., & Knoll, M. (2011). Towards a classification of information technology governance frameworks for the development of a IT GRC healthcare framework. In Consumer communications and networking conference. IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lapão, L. V., Gregório, J., Cavaco, A., da Silva, M. M., & Lovis, C. (2013). Implementing eHealth services for enhanced pharmaceutical care provision: Opportunities and challenges. In Advances in information systems and technologies (pp. 433–443). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lehto, T. (2012). Designing persuasive health behavior change interventions. In Critical issues for the development of sustainable e-health solutions (pp. 163–181). Boston: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Liu, L., & Zhu, D. (2013). An integrated e-service model for electronic medical records. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 11(1), 161–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mauro, C., Leimeister, J. M., & Krcmar, H. (2011). The nature of medical device services. A multiple-case study. In International conference on biomedical electronics and devices (BIODEVICES) 2011, Rome, Italy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menschner, P., Prinz, A., Koene, P., Köbler, F., Altmann, M., Krcmar, H., & Leimeister, J. M. (2011). Reaching into patients’ homes–participatory designed AAL services. Electronic Markets, 21(1), 63–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nguyen, L., & Wickramasinghe, N. (2017). An examination of the mediating role for a nursing information system. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 21 (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Nykänen, P., Seppälä, A., Ruotsalainen, P., & Blobel, B. (2013, August). Feasibility analysis of the privacy attributes of the personal wellness information model. In MedInfo (pp. 219–223).

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, Y., Hardy, V., Heavin, C., Gallagher, J., & O’Donoghue, J. (2015, May). Supporting LIFE: Mobile health application for classifying, treating and monitoring disease outbreaks of sick children in developing countries. In International conference on design science research in information systems (pp. 366–370). Cham: Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ojo, A., Chatterjee, S., Neighbors, H. W., Piatt, G. A., Moulik, S., Neighbors, B. D., et al. (2015, January). OH-BUDDY: Mobile phone texting based intervention for diabetes and oral health management. In 2015 48th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (HICSS) (pp. 803–813). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, C., Kromat, T., & Leimeister, J. M. (2015, January). Complex services and according business models--Design and evaluation of an analysis framework in the field of telemedicine. In 2015 48th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (HICSS) (pp. 1296–1305). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomares-Quimbaya, A., González, R. A., Bohórquez, W. R., Muñoz, O. M., García, O. M., & Londoño, D. (2014). Improving decision-making for clinical research and health administration. In Engineering and management of IT-based service systems (pp. 179–200). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Prinz, A., Menschner, P., & Leimeister, J. M. (2012). Electronic data capture in healthcare—NFC as easy way for self-reported health status information. Health Policy and Technology, 1(3), 137–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rapaport, S., Leshno, M., & Fink, L. (2014). A design process for using normative models in shared decision making: A case study in the context of prenatal testing. Health Expectations, 17(6), 863–875.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raptis, D. A., Mettler, T., Tzanas, K., & Graf, R. (2012). A novel open-source web-based platform promoting collaboration of healthcare professionals and biostatisticians: A design science approach. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 37(1), 22–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rissanen, M. (2014, April). “Machine beauty”–should it inspire ehealth designers? In International conference on health information science (pp. 1–11). Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sadeghi, P., Benyoucef, M., & Kuziemsky, C. E. (2012). A mashup based framework for multi level healthcare interoperability. Information Systems Frontiers, 14(1), 57–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schlieter, H., Bögel, S., & Esswein, W. (2011, September). A service oriented method for health care network governance. In IFIP international working conference on governance and sustainability in information systems-managing the transfer and diffusion of IT (pp. 249–258). Berlin: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sherer, S. A. (2014). Advocating for action design research on IT value creation in healthcare. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 15(12), 860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silva, M., & Correia, S. (2014). ActiveBrain: Online social platform for active and healthy ageing. Procedia Computer Science, 27, 38–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vo, A., Liu, K., Horan, T. A., & He, Y. (2015, January). Toward global health interoperability: Ontology development of traditional chinese medicine through comparative analyses. In 2015 48th Hawaii international conference on system sciences (HICSS) (pp. 2843–2852). IEEE.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walderhaug, S. (2013). Design and evaluation of the ModelHealth toolchain for continuity of care web services. Automated Software Engineering, 20(2), 185–235.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weeding, S., & Dawson, L. (2012). Laptops on trolleys: Lessons from a mobile-wireless hospital ward. Journal of Medical Systems, 36(6), 3933–3943.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wickramasinghe, N., Durst, C., Viol, J., & Theo, S. (2014, December 8–10). Critical issues when designing consumer health 2.0 applications: An investigation of the relationship of online social networks for health-related behaviors. In Australasian conference on information systems (ACIS). Auckland, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhuang, Z. Y., Wilkin, C. L., & Ceglowski, A. (2013). A framework for an intelligent decision support system: A case in pathology test ordering. Decision Support Systems, 55(2), 476–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Avijit Sengupta, Gandhar Pathak, Onkar Malgonde, Vinay Dabhade, Shifa Chaudhary, and Catherine Fernando. This team of University of South Florida graduate students performed a thorough literature review of healthcare papers that used design science research methods.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Alan R. Hevner

  2. Deakin University, Kew East, VIC, Australia

    Nilmini Wickramasinghe

Authors
  1. Alan R. Hevner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nilmini Wickramasinghe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alan R. Hevner .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Epworth HealthCare, Richmond, Victoria, Australia

    Nilmini Wickramasinghe

  2. Deakin University, Burwood, Australia

    Jonathan L. Schaffer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Hevner, A.R., Wickramasinghe, N. (2018). Design Science Research Opportunities in Health Care. In: Wickramasinghe, N., Schaffer, J. (eds) Theories to Inform Superior Health Informatics Research and Practice. Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72287-0_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72287-0_1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-72286-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-72287-0

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation