Information overload within the health care system: a literature review

Abstract

There is a widespread view held by health clinicians that their work effectiveness is impaired by 'information overload.' Building upon a previous work by Wilson, a review of the literature was undertaken to look for the evidence of this. It was found that the literature, particularly in the context of the clinical environment, was limited. This review explores the diverse overarching theories of information overload, effects of the phenomenon that are perceived to occur and proposed solutions to this problem. Many of the papers noted an information explosion but only three authors explicitly attempted to measure both the quantity and the complexity of this information. It was also found that the typology of the information studied was severely limited with most studies exploring information such as guidelines, access to journals, research findings and other knowledge intensive areas. Solutions proposed seem to concentrate on technological means rather than exploring the use of humans either in management of information or as a step in the filtering process.

Theory-based model of factors affecting information overload

“…Klausegger and Sinkovics (2007) It could be argued that Butcher's categorisation of Customer Information Overload appears to be misplaced and that Customer Information Overload could be viewed as just a context for Personal Information Overload. 'Context', however, is a significant factor in information overload that needs to be modelled and has been shown to be important by a number of researchers including Allen and Shoard (2005) and Hall and Walton (2004). Another key factor that appears in the research into Customer Information Overload is 'strategy'.…”

“…Although a considerable amount of research has been undertaken in the information overload field as well as some broad literature reviews there has been little published since early 2000 apart from the work of Edmunds and Morris (2000) and Hall and Walton (2004). This paper begins by providing the research design that was used to create the information overload model and formula (Section 2).…”

International perspectives and initiatives

“…[6][7][8][9] As Don Detmer (2003) points out, the development of a national health information structure has global dimensions. 10 p.4 There is significant potential to learn from countries that may be ahead in planning and development.…”

Das Informationsverhalten niedergelassener Ärzte in der Schweiz: Die Bezugsquellen

“…Die rapide Zunahme medizinischen Wissens führt jedoch zu einer Informationsüberla-stung -von den täglich einwirkenden Informationen werden mittlerweile über 98% nicht mehr wahrgenommen [2]. Unter dieser Informationsflut leiden insbesondere auch die Ärzte [3,8]. Der einfache und schnelle Informationszugang ist wichtig für die täg-lich anfallenden Problemstellungen.…”