The Role of Controversy in Medical Technology Adoption

In Chapter 11, Mikhailova and Olsen present a study of a radical innovation in heart surgery and its adoption and implementation at a university hospital. The authors explore the complex inter- and intra-organizational adjustment processes of technology and practice integration by focusing on controversies at the frontiers of interaction and their effects on the adjustments and outcomes of the process. The case concerns the introduction of Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) implementation in a Scandinavian hospital and shows that interdisciplinary frictions between cardiologists and thorax surgeons had a substantial impact on the innovation process. The authors argue that interactions between suppliers, their networks and users were critical to the particular paths of implementation and assimilation that bring radically new technologies into sustainable medical procedures.