When designing a novel system in a hospital or other clinical setting, I think it would be important to gather information from doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, et al on use cases for the system.  Aside from the fact that all of these are also busy professionals, what is a good way to get them to share information pertinent to their (possibly chaotic and time sensitive) workflow that would be usable in a software engineering design?
What is an effective way to obtain use case information from preoccupied professionals?
design;requirements management;healthcare
The only way to reverse-engineer what medical professionals are doing is to observe first hand, while they are working. Find and follow willing, chatty professionals like white on rice, and ask them to narrate the work and thought process. If they need prodding, ask questions that drive towards rules, like: What are you thinking? Why did you choose this over that? What are you looking for? What does that rule out?As you learn, share your mental model, and ask questions that shape & refine the rules. Be the journal of their work.Anything short of active, hands-on, in-person, respectful observation and feedback is guessing .. not engineering.