Editorial — Evaluating New Interactions in Health Care: Challenges and Approaches

New wireless, networked, and sensor-based technologies are increasingly pervasive within health care. We are seeing a growth not only in the availability of hardware and software solutions for health care but also in a much wider range of settings than before. Whereas previously information technology was predominantly based in the consulting room, clinicians now have access to mobile devices such as personal digital assistants, computers-on-wheels, and tablet PCs, and electronic whiteboard are becoming increasingly popular within the hospital environment. These technologies mean that clinicians can access electronic information, such as electronic patient records and clinical decision support systems on wards, by the patient’s bedside, and during ward rounds. Healthcare technologies are also making their way into patients’ homes, for example, as telecare and assistive technology packages, and providing remote physiological and activity monitoring and remote consultations. These technologies do not just influence the distribution of information but also allow for the creation of new processes for patient care. Such changes present interesting opportunities for interaction design but also present new challenges for evaluation. Evaluating new health care technologies in a complex context of use such as the hospital or home presents practical challenges, but evaluation strategies that fail to understand how the technology is used