The Multicriteria Decision Analysis for Extended Reality (MCDA-XR) Governance Framework for Health Care Adoption:...

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Immersive Technologies

Background:

• Healthcare organizations face challenges integrating immersive technologies like extended reality (XR).
• Existing digital health guidance lacks practical tools for assessing XR implementation readiness and risks.
• Decisions on XR adoption are often made through isolated pilots without structured governance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the multicriteria decision analysis for extended reality (MCDA-XR) framework.
• To translate behavioral, organizational, and technical determinants into a structured decision-support process for healthcare organizations adopting XR.
• To provide a governance-oriented tool for strategic XR implementation decisions.

Main Methods:

• Sequential mixed methods design across two phases of a three-stage project.
• Phase 1: Identified strategic criteria integrating theoretical perspectives and XR implementation evidence.
• Phase 2: Refined the framework through participatory sessions with 33 multidisciplinary stakeholders, establishing a 10-criterion structure and dual-score logic.

Main Results:

• Developed a 10-criterion framework (MCDA-XR) within human, organizational, and technical domains.
• Stakeholder evaluations showed high strategic relevance for criteria like safety and workflow integration.
• The dual-assessment approach allows identification of priority gaps based on importance and readiness.

Conclusions:

• MCDA-XR addresses a critical governance gap in XR implementation within healthcare.
• The framework supports explicit prioritization and action-oriented decision-making, aligning adoption with institutional needs.
• MCDA-XR is prepared for Phase 3 validation to assess its practical utility in clinical settings.