IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orisre/v22y2011i3p447-468.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases with Information Systems: Reconceptualizing Outbreak Management Through the Lens of Loose Coupling

Author

Listed:
  • Yi-Da Chen

    (Department of Management Information Systems, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721)

  • Susan A. Brown

    (Department of Management Information Systems, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721)

  • Paul Jen-Hwa Hu

    (Department of Operations and Information Systems, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112)

  • Chwan-Chuen King

    (Institute of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 100, Republic of China)

  • Hsinchun Chen

    (Department of Management Information Systems, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721)

Abstract

Increasing global connectivity makes emerging infectious diseases (EID) more threatening than ever before. Various information systems (IS) projects have been undertaken to enhance public health capacity for detecting EID in a timely manner and disseminating important public health information to concerned parties. While those initiatives seemed to offer promising solutions, public health researchers and practitioners raised concerns about their overall effectiveness. In this paper, we argue that the concerns about current public health IS projects are partially rooted in the lack of a comprehensive framework that captures the complexity of EID management to inform and evaluate the development of public health IS. We leverage loose coupling to analyze news coverage and contact tracing data from 479 patients associated with the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Taiwan. From this analysis, we develop a framework for outbreak management. Our proposed framework identifies two types of causal circles---coupling and decoupling circles---between the central public health administration and the local capacity for detecting unusual patient cases. These two circles are triggered by important information-centric activities in public health practices and can have significant influence on the effectiveness of EID management. We derive seven design guidelines from the framework and our analysis of the SARS outbreak in Taiwan to inform the development of public health IS. We leverage the guidelines to evaluate current public health initiatives. By doing so, we identify limitations of existing public health IS, highlight the direction future development should consider, and discuss implications for research and public health policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi-Da Chen & Susan A. Brown & Paul Jen-Hwa Hu & Chwan-Chuen King & Hsinchun Chen, 2011. "Managing Emerging Infectious Diseases with Information Systems: Reconceptualizing Outbreak Management Through the Lens of Loose Coupling," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 447-468, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:22:y:2011:i:3:p:447-468
    DOI: 10.1287/isre.1110.0376
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/isre.1110.0376
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/isre.1110.0376?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Taleb, Nassim Nicholas, 2007. "Black Swans and the Domains of Statistics," The American Statistician, American Statistical Association, vol. 61, pages 198-200, August.
    2. Klovdahl, A. S. & Graviss, E. A. & Yaganehdoost, A. & Ross, M. W. & Wanger, A. & Adams, G. J. & Musser, J. M., 2001. "Networks and tuberculosis: an undetected community outbreak involving public places," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 681-694, March.
    3. Douglas Orton, 1988. "Toward a Theory of the Loosely Coupled System," Working Papers hal-00612638, HAL.
    4. Lyle Fearnley, 2008. "Signals Come and Go: Syndromic Surveillance and Styles of Biosecurity," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(7), pages 1615-1632, July.
    5. Daniel Robey & Marie-Claude Boudreau, 1999. "Accounting for the Contradictory Organizational Consequences of Information Technology: Theoretical Directions and Methodological Implications," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 167-185, June.
    6. Matthias Trier, 2008. "Research Note ---Towards Dynamic Visualization for Understanding Evolution of Digital Communication Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 335-350, September.
    7. March, James G., 1987. "Ambiguity and accounting: The elusive link between information and decision making," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(2), pages 153-168, March.
    8. Gerald C. Kane & Maryam Alavi, 2008. "Casting the Net: A Multimodal Network Perspective on User-System Interactions," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 253-272, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wolfgang Ketter & Karsten Schroer & Konstantina Valogianni, 2023. "Information Systems Research for Smart Sustainable Mobility: A Framework and Call for Action," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 1045-1065, September.
    2. Ben Nasr, Imed & Kondrateva, Galina & Khvatova, Tatiana & Ben Arfi, Wissal, 2024. "The role of Contact-Tracing Mobile Apps in pandemic prevention: A multidisciplinary perspective on health beliefs, social, and technological factors," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 358(C).
    3. Amir Hassan Zadeh & Hamed M. Zolbanin & Ramesh Sharda & Dursun Delen, 2019. "Social Media for Nowcasting Flu Activity: Spatio-Temporal Big Data Analysis," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 743-760, August.
    4. Xiao Fang & Paul Jen-Hwa Hu & Zhepeng (Lionel) Li & Weiyu Tsai, 2013. "Predicting Adoption Probabilities in Social Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 128-145, March.
    5. Daniel Gartner & Yiye Zhang & Rema Padman, 2018. "Cognitive workload reduction in hospital information systems," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 224-243, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arun Sundararajan & Foster Provost & Gal Oestreicher-Singer & Sinan Aral, 2013. "Research Commentary ---Information in Digital, Economic, and Social Networks," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 883-905, December.
    2. Chan, Kimmy Wa & Li, Stella Yiyan & Zhu, John Jianjun, 2015. "Fostering Customer Ideation in Crowdsourcing Community: The Role of Peer-to-peer and Peer-to-firm Interactions," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 42-62.
    3. Doyeon Kwak & Wonjoon Kim, 2017. "Understanding the process of social network evolution: Online-offline integrated analysis of social tie formation," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(5), pages 1-16, May.
    4. Pascale Amans & Sylvie Rascol-Boutard, 2006. "Controlling Complex Organizations on the Basis of an Operational Performance Measure," Post-Print hal-01659071, HAL.
    5. Parrini, Alessandro, 2013. "Importance Sampling for Portfolio Credit Risk in Factor Copula Models," MPRA Paper 103745, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Rajiv Kohli & Sarv Devaraj, 2003. "Measuring Information Technology Payoff: A Meta-Analysis of Structural Variables in Firm-Level Empirical Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 127-145, June.
    7. Child, K. & Desta, G. & Douthwaite, B. & Haileslassie, Amare & van Rooyen, A. & Tamene, L. & Uhlenbrook, Stefan, 2021. "Impact tracking: a practitioner-developed approach to scaling agricultural innovation in Ethiopia," IWMI Books, Reports H050789, International Water Management Institute.
    8. Jin P. Gerlach & Ronald T. Cenfetelli, 2022. "Overcoming the Single-IS Paradigm in Individual-Level IS Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 476-488, June.
    9. Flyvbjerg, Bent & Ansar, Atif & Budzier, Alexander & Buhl, Søren & Cantarelli, Chantal & Garbuio, Massimo & Glenting, Carsten & Holm, Mette Skamris & Lovallo, Dan & Molin, Eric & Rønnest, Arne & Stewa, 2019. "On de-bunking “Fake News” in the post-truth era: How to reduce statistical error in research," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 409-411.
    10. Robyn Martin & Sahar D. Safaee & Khamphithoun Somsamouth & Boualoy Mounivong & Ryan Sinclair & Shweta Bansal & Pramil N. Singh, 2013. "Mixed Methods Pilot Study of Sharing Behaviors among Waterpipe Smokers of Rural Lao PDR: Implications for Infectious Disease Transmission," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, May.
    11. Shrestha, Yash Raj & Krishna, Vaibhav & von Krogh, Georg, 2021. "Augmenting organizational decision-making with deep learning algorithms: Principles, promises, and challenges," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 588-603.
    12. Satish Nambisan & Yadong Luo, 2021. "Toward a loose coupling view of digital globalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(8), pages 1646-1663, October.
    13. Ivan Faiella & Luciano Lavecchia, 2012. "Costs and benefits of relaunching nuclear energy in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 114, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    14. Chiara Oppi & Cristina Campanale & Lino Cinquini, 2021. "Il problema dell?ambiguit? nei sistemi di misurazione della performance nel settore pubblico: un?analisi della letteratura internazionale," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2021(2), pages 11-38.
    15. Wanda J. Orlikowski & C. Suzanne Iacono, 2001. "Research Commentary: Desperately Seeking the “IT” in IT Research—A Call to Theorizing the IT Artifact," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 121-134, June.
    16. Gallus, Jana & Bhatia, Sudeep, 2020. "Gender, power and emotions in the collaborative production of knowledge: A large-scale analysis of Wikipedia editor conversations," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 115-130.
    17. Yu‐Lin Hsu & Gavin C. Reid, 2021. "Two‐stage decision‐making within the firm: Analysis and case studies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(6), pages 1355-1373, September.
    18. Derbyshire, James, 2017. "Potential surprise theory as a theoretical foundation for scenario planning," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 77-87.
    19. Sheaves, Marcus & Brookes, Justin & Coles, Rob & Freckelton, Marnie & Groves, Paul & Johnston, Ross & Winberg, Pia, 2014. "Repair and revitalisation of Australia׳s tropical estuaries and coastal wetlands: Opportunities and constraints for the reinstatement of lost function and productivity," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 23-38.
    20. Power, Michael, 2015. "How accounting begins: Object formation and the accretion of infrastructure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 43-55.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:orisre:v:22:y:2011:i:3:p:447-468. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.