Spatial, organizational, and social dimensions of intra-hospital communication

Based on ethnographic field observations and interviews with clinicians, we compare communication patterns and use of communication technology at a geriatric department and an emergency department at a Norwegian hospital. Both departments used a similar wireless telephone system, but in different ways. We use three dimensions to analyze the structuring of cooperative work — spatial, organizational, and social — and explain the difference in communication technology use by the different degree of overlap between physical space and the wider notion of place in the two departments. The higher degree of space-place overlap at the geriatric department contributed to a lesser need for the technological support of “virtual placeness” provided by communication technology, whereas these functions were more welcome at the emergency department. We think an analysis that takes into account the notion of space and place and our three structuring dimensions can aid in the requirement elicitation process of intra-hospital communication technology.