Dr Roberta Bernardi
BSc, PhD
Current positions
Associate Professor in Digital Health and Innovation
School of Management - Business School
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
- Digital innovation in healthcare
- Patient empowerment and the use of social media and online health communities
- The production/consumption of health information and medical knowledge online
- Professional identities and accountability in the adoption and use of digital health technologies
- Sociomateriality and affordances
Personal profile
I am Associate Professor in Digital Health and Innovation at the University of Bristol. I earned my PhD from the University of Warwick in 2012 and have more than 10 years of experience researching digital innovation in healthcare.
I have done research on the diffusion and adoption of health information systems and telehealth from various theoretical perspectives, including institutional theory, affordances, identity theory, and the sociology of professions.
My recent work focuses on the impact of online health communities and social media on medical expertise, medical knowledge, and healthcare innovation. I am an experienced qualitative researcher and am currently working on combining text analytics with human interpretations of texts to advance the analytical as well as interpretative power of narrative methodologies in the analysis of social media conversations.
My research features in world leading journals such as Management Information Systems Quarterly, the Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, and Social Science & Medicine.
I am an Associate Editor of the Journal of the Association for Information Systems and the Information Systems Journal, a member of the Editorial Board of Information Systems Research, and serve as a Senior Editor of Information Technology and People.
As a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (UK), I have made notable contributions to teaching. A firm believer in the power of information technologies and data in addressing industry and societal challenges, I have designed and led courses on digital innovation, data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence for business where students have been involved in group and individual projects to solve real business scenario challenges and problems.
PhD supervision
I currently accept PhD students that want to conduct research in digital innovation. Examples of research topics are: digital health, digital/IT innovation in healthcare, digital transformation of public/citizens services, digital technology and change in professional work, digital platforms and value/service co-creation, platform workers, the sharing economy, user-led innovation and knowledge creation, artificial intelligence, digital inequalities.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Medical Experts as Social Media Influencers of Networks of Practice in the Fight Against COVID-19
Principal Investigator
Description
Medical experts who act as influencers on social media have the power to influence public trust in public health guidance. Despite their influence, the role of medical experts in shaping…Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
31/01/2022 to 04/07/2022
Epistemic responsibility and the sociomateriality of epistemic practices in a diabetes online community
Principal Investigator
Description
Online health communities provide health information and peer-support to people with a chronic illness and compensate for the lack of personalised care in the health service. Yet, when it is…Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
01/04/2019 to 31/03/2020
The Role of Online Health Communities in Patient Empowerment An Empirical Study of Knowledge Creation and Sharing on Diabetes.co.uk
Principal Investigator
Description
Findings demonstrate that the forum can have a positive impact on its members’ wellbeing and can help members manage their relationship with healthcare professionals. The survey results show the key…Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
17/04/2017 to 15/09/2017
Integrated Care Team: Independent evaluation of the North East Hampshire and Farnham Vanguard by Wessex Academic Health Science Network
Role
Researcher
Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
03/10/2016 to 24/11/2016
The Role of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in Fostering the Adoption and Diffusion of Telehealth in the UK
Principal Investigator
Description
Telehealth promises to increase efficiency in health care, particularly, by cutting costs in the care of patients affected by chronic diseases (e.g. by reducing number of hospital visits/admissions). Yet, health…Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
06/02/2014 to 05/04/2015
Publications
Selected publications
01/05/2020Clinical managers' identity at the crossroad of multiple institutional logics in IT innovation
Information Systems Journal
The Role of Affordances in the Deinstitutionalization of a Dysfunctional Health Management Information System in Kenya
MIS Quarterly
Health Information Systems and Accountability in Kenya
Journal of the Association for Information Systems
Challenging Dominant Frames in Policies for IS Innovation in Healthcare through Rhetorical Strategies
Journal of the Association for Information Systems
How Do Online Communities of Patients Aggregate on Twitter? An Affordance Perspective
Proceedings of the Thirty-Seventh International Conference on Information Systems: 2016
Recent publications
23/04/2024How do unintended consequences emerge from EHR implementation? An affordance perspective
Information Systems Journal
Turning Digital in Times of Crisis
Information and Management
Online Health Communities and the Patient-doctor Relationship
Social Science and Medicine
Guest editorial: The bright side and the dark side of digital health
Internet Research
The digital transformation of public services in the COVID-19 era: bringing back the digital inclusion agenda
A critical juncture for public services: lessons from COVID-19