Benefit or burden? A sociotechnical analysis of diagnostic computer kiosks in four California hospital emergency departments

► Despite high expectations for new technologies, there is wide variability in their adoption and impact in clinical settings. ► This study offers a sociotechnical analysis of an IT device that failed when moved from one clinical setting to another. ► Findings point to conflicting understandings of evidence for the kiosk's value in emergency departments. ► The kiosk's network weakened as it interacted with triage practices and emergency medicine's ethos of good patient care. ► Future health IT projects would benefit from the insights garnered through ethnographic methods and sociotechnical analysis.