Resumen
In this article, authors have examined how a community health information network is really used. Community Health Information Networks (CHINs) are defined by Ernst and Young Health Care Practice as "interorganizational systems using information technologies and telecommunications to store, transmit and transform clinical and financial information. This information can be shared among cooperative as well as competitive participants such as payors, hospitals, alternative delivery systems, clinics, physicians and home health agencies." Though the results are based on a limited sample of 47 caregivers for Alzheimer's patients, they represent a model through which researchers and practitioners alike can examine the whole notion of use, but care is needed when interpreting such use. Analyzing use in the remaining CHIN classes - voluntary, telephone, and enterprise - can add to the understanding of system utilization in general and in health care delivery networks in particular. Their findings suggest that a more user-centered design is advantageous, if CHINs and other networks provide functionality and services that are valuable to users.