Two Pilot Tests of IT-Enabled Collaboration in Emergency Healthcare: Evaluating Relational Feasibility and System Acceptance

"Relational feasibility" refers to potential participants\´ readiness to engage in IT-enabled collaboration, apart from (but interacting with) their organizations\´ technical or operational readiness. This paper examines two pilot tests that evaluated prototype systems for IT-enabled collaboration in emergency healthcare: 1) a system that allowed clinicians to draw on multiple data sources to reveal a patient\´s prescription drug history and 2) a tele-trauma system by which specially trained physicians guided emergency medical technicians (EMT\´s) as they "cared" for smart-mannequin "patients" in an ambulance en route to a tertiary-care hospital. We illustrate what pilot tests can reveal about relational feasibility issues such as interpersonal trust, and its interaction with system acceptance issues. We discuss the implications for the management of pilot tests of emerging IT systems, and offer suggestions for further research on managing pilot test projects in healthcare and other domains.