Eline Hovstad Raphaug
PhD candidate at NTNU
I’m a PhD student in Medicine and Health Sciences at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. My research interests include digitalization of healthcare services and how it affects the governance and decision-making processes. My work is affiliated with the research group ‘Management and organization of social and health services (MARS)’ at NTNU and my current PhD project is looking into the use of information systems and ‘data in practice’ in municipal healthcare management in Norway. I’m particularly interested in how digital data are shaped by social processes and interpreted within existing infrastructures. I come from a technology background but have slowly moved over to the social sciences. I finished my master’s degree in technology management in 2017 and have since then worked with innovation, business development, e-health research and implementation of a major health information system.
Tell us about your project!
My PhD project delves into the utilization of information systems and ‘data in practice’ in municipal healthcare management. The escalating demands on healthcare services due to an aging population have elevated digital health data to the status of a gold mine, promising future benefits for governance and service delivery. Managers are tasked with transforming data into meaningful insights and actions. However, data transcend mere repositories of 'raw' information; they are shaped by social processes and interpreted within existing infrastructures and practices. Employing a practice-theoretical perspective and an ethnographic approach, the project aims to contribute to empirical knowledge and the development of theory about data practice, as a particular management challenge in the municipal healthcare service. Given the ongoing digital transformation and the imperative for data-driven health leadership, the project is in line with UN’s sustainability goals related to improved health and innovation.
“The escalating demands on healthcare services due to an aging population have elevated digital health data to the status of a gold mine, promising future benefits for governance and service delivery.”
— Eline Hovstad Raphaug on her PhD project “Towards better data practices in municipal healthcare management: an extended case study”