Demigods of Technology Use – How Beating the Overconfidence Bias Can Prevent Medical Errors

Abstract

The healthcare domain faces considerable challenges due to the digitization of medical processes and routines. Information technologies are designed to enable physicians to treat more patients and to increase service quality and patient safety. Despite acknowledging the rapid digital transformation of healthcare, research often neglects whether physicians are actually able to effectively decide which technology to use in which setting and whether their technology use thus effectively enhances quality and safety. Literature on cognitive biases already looked broadly at related errors in judgment and action and questioned rational behavior. Nevertheless, overconfidence, being one of the most common cognitive biases, has barely been linked to the accurate adoption and use of technology by physicians. Against this background, this research-in-progress paper proposes a framework for conducting a mixed-methods study based on the particularities of overconfidence in healthcare. We invite future research to compare our approach with established theoretical frameworks in IS research.