MUST--a participatory method for designing sustainable health IT

Several important issues in designing sustainable health IT, such as coherent visions for change and genuine user involvement, are too often neglected or not paid enough attention to in practice. The MUST method addresses the early stages in the design of sustainable IT applications. The method highlights how those issues can be dealt with as it provides practical recommendations in terms of principles, tools and techniques. The method has proven helpful in assisting project participants to focus on and combine issues that are also crucial when designing health IT. MUST has been developed and tested in commercial settings. Here however, we illustrate the method's potential for health IT as it was recently used for the evaluation of a faulty health IT project intended to support shared care in relation to pregnancy.