DESCRIPTION (HIMSS Book Series) 2nd Edition
by Vitaly Herasevich (Author), Brian W. Pickering (Author)
Governments
and clinical providers are investing billions of dollars in health
information technologies (HIT). This is being done with the expectation
that HIT adoption will translate into healthier patients experiencing
better care at lower cost. In the initial push to roll out HIT, the
reliability of these claims was often not substantiated by systematic
evaluation and testing. As the first wave of widespread adoption of HIT
comes to an end and the next wave begins, it is more important than ever
that stakeholders evaluate the results of their investment, evaluate
their success (or failure), and make decisions about future directions. Structured
evaluations of a project’s impact are an essential element of the
justification for investment in HIT. A systematic approach to evaluation
and testing should allow for comparison between different HIT
interventions with the goal of identifying and promoting those which
improve clinical care or other outcomes of interest. The question of the
day is no longer "why perform evaluations," but "how to perform
evaluations." This
updated book provides an easy-to-read reference outlining the basic
concepts, theory, and methods required to perform a systematic
evaluation of HIT. Chapters cover key domains of HIT evaluation: study
structure and design, measurement fundamentals, results analysis,
communicating results, guidelines development, and reference standards.
Updated case studies and examples are included demonstrating the
successes or failures of these investments. The authors also include new
initiatives put in place by the government and discuss how they are
being adopted and used by health systems.