Abstract:
Health information technologies (HIT) are transforming the medical profession by shifting how physicians perform their roles and interact with patients. Drawing on interviews with physicians across specialties and career stages, this study investigates how professional role conceptions influence HIT use in clinical practice. We find that physicians are moving from authoritative decision-makers to collaborative advisors, navigating rising patient expectations and increasingly transparent knowledge environments. In response, physicians adopt varied HIT usage strategies to manage perceived professionalism and authority. We introduce the concept of differential HIT usage to describe how physicians selectively adapt HIT use based on context and technology. Furthermore, we identify how visible technology use can either support or undermine the performance of medical competence. The study contributes to literature on HIT adoption and professional role change by highlighting how digital tools are integrated in ways that align with role expectations and symbolic expressions of expertise.