Data and Relationships in Care Work:

Between Data Dreams and Reality in Municipal Health Initiatives

Abstract

For decades, data has been used to support managerial decision-making in the public sector. Recently, we have seen an increase in interest in the potential for using data to support and develop professional work. Despite widespread interest in data-supported professional work, there is a lack of knowledge about how and to what extent this ambition is realized in practice. In this article, we explore this ambition of data-informed professional work by examining the work practices of health professionals in a municipal health center which treats patients with diabetes and dementia. By employing the conceptual pair “proving/improving”, introduced by STS theoretician Annemarie Mol (2006), we first examine how and to what extent data is used in professional work practices, and then how the professionals understand the concept of “data” in relation to their work, and whether the ambition of data-informed work resonates with the professionals. The analysis finds that data is used to “prove” – to provide evidence for – the quality of the work in the municipal health center through statistics and “good stories”. The IT-system of the health center is used as a communication platform for coordinating tasks and maintaining patient records. However, professionals do not rely on data from the professional system when performing their work. Instead, situationally relevant information is gathered from conversations between professionals and the patients. Although management sees a potential for using data to improve professional work, the professionals themselves do not recognize this potential. Instead, they focus on each meeting with the citizen-patient.