Designing an innovative unified contextual architecture for improving information retrieval service in healthcare organizations

Designing effective methods of retrieving evidence-based clinical information for healthcare professionals’ decision making have always been challenging tasks for researchers in this field. Relevant existing studies have indicated significant limitations of implementing context-sensitive information retrieval services in healthcare organizations, but attempts are yet at their emergent stage for designing research-based solutions. In this paper, we design a new information retrieval architecture as a solution artifact useful in healthcare organizations for improving their information retrieval practices. Under the design science research paradigm, we outline a combined methodology that comprises design science research, design thinking and systems thinking for operating an iterative guiding process for developing and evaluating the new information retrieval approach. A total of 13 requirements that are linked to user-oriented theory of information need and fitness-utility model are captured. The new architecture is evaluated for its usefulness and fitness-utility using multi-case in-depth interviews that satisfy formalizing prescriptive knowledge on information retrieval.