Evaluation and Technology Assessment

After reading this chapter, you should know the answers to these questions: Why are empirical studies based on the methods of evaluation and technology assessment important to the successful implementation of information resources to improve health care? What challenges make studies in informatics difficult to carry out? How are these challenges addressed in practice? Why can all evaluations be classified as empirical studies? What are the major assumptions underlying objectivist and subjectivist approaches to evaluation? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? What are the factors that distinguish the three stages of technology assessment? How does one distinguish measurement and demonstration aspects of objectivist studies, and why are both aspects necessary? What steps are typically undertaken in a measurement study? What designs are typically used in demonstration studies? What is the difference between cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses? How can investigators address issues of cost effectiveness and cost benefit of medical information resources? What steps are followed in a subjectivist study? What techniques are employed by subjectivist investigators to ensure rigor and credibility of their findings? Why is communication between investigators and clients central to the success of any evaluation?