Abstract: In social informatics, socio-technical theory provides a framework that illustrates the interaction of social (users and organization) and technical (hardware, software, and tasks) systems inherent within the use of technology in organizations. Such a framework has been instrumental in uncovering both the positive (e.g., benefits and advantages) and negative (e.g., risks and disadvantages) aspects of technology use. In health informatics, socio-technical theory has been used to optimize healthcare professionals’ use of technologies that are provided by health institutions, such as electronic health records and clinical decision support systems. This talk provides a novel application of social-technical theory by using it as a guiding framework to examine healthcare professionals’ use of technology for social good, such as using social media to correct health misinformation. Mixed method results identify several socio-technical tensions in correcting health misinformation on social media including recommendations to address such tensions. This talk will conclude by outlining future efforts to address health misinformation as well as discussing future research plans on using socio-technical theory to ethically design, develop, and deploy artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Bio: John Robert Bautista is a Boyvey Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin. Using concepts from health informatics, social informatics, and social justice informatics, his research draws on sociotechnical theory to ethically design, develop, and deploy technologies for health-related purposes (e.g., smartphones, social media, blockchain, and artificial intelligence). He has published his research in reputable informatics journals, such as Applied Clinical Informatics – Open (ACI-Open), Computers, Informatics, Nursing (CIN), Informatics for Health and Social Care, International Journal of Medical Informatics (IJMI), JMIR Public Health, Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), JAMIA Open, and Telematics & Informatics. He has been an editorial board member of the IJMI since 2021. He completed his PhD in Information and Communication Science at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. Previously, he obtained a BS Nursing (Cum Laude) from Trinity University of Asia and a Master of Public Health from the University of the Philippines – Manila.