Is healthcare information technology based on evidence?

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Technology Assessment

Background:

• Healthcare information technology (HIT) implementation involves substantial financial investment.
• The efficacy of HIT is often assumed rather than empirically validated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To critically evaluate the evidence base for the efficacy of healthcare information technology.
• To examine the methodologies and focus of HIT evaluations.
• To assess the availability of data supporting HIT's impact on patient safety, efficiency, and user satisfaction.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of existing literature on HIT efficacy.
• Analysis of evaluation metrics used in HIT implementations.
• Assessment of data supporting claims of HIT benefits.

Main Results:

• Evidence of HIT efficacy is frequently anecdotal or influenced by self-promotion.
• Objective measurement of HIT's impact is rare and challenging.
• Many cost-benefit analyses for HIT are aspirational rather than data-driven.

Conclusions:

• Rigorous, objective evaluation of HIT efficacy is often lacking prior to widespread implementation.
• The assumption of HIT benefits, while laudable, is not consistently supported by systematic data.
• Further research is needed to establish robust methodologies for measuring HIT's true impact.