Measuring the impact of new technology: an outcomes-based approach

In the current era of decreasing resources, many healthcare organizations are under increasing pressure to evaluate new technology. Advances and innovations in healthcare technology are instrumental in reshaping the healthcare system and in impacting the practice of medicine, including critical care. Healthcare organizations are faced with the following four questions related to adopting a new technology: 1) Should the organization invest in this technology? 2) What are the associated benefits and risks of the capital investment? 3) What is the impact on patient outcomes as a result of adopting the technology? 4) What is the return on investment to the organization? These issues represent challenging areas for the researcher, clinician, manager, and policy maker. New techniques from the business and outcomes research arenas allow for the development of quantitative and qualitative models to facilitate answering these questions. By integrating business and clinical considerations, these models can impact policy at two levels: 1) by identifying optimal capital expenditure decisions for individual healthcare organizations, it can provide a significant competitive advantage for an organization; and 2) by identifying optimal health policies related to technology at a national and international health level, it can impact the healthcare systems and patient outcomes in a favorable manner.