Improved methods for assessing information technology in primary health care and an example from telemedicine

A change in evaluation methodology, from a strictly technical approach to a more comprehensive one, would result in better and less biased decision making in connection with the introduction of information technology in health care. To reach this goal, guidelines are required for building and refining contextual frames, taking qualitative considerations into account. We used primary health care as an example. A literature search produced over 200 relevant articles, from which 76 were selected which explicitly referred to evaluation in connection with health-care information systems. Text analysis allowed us to classify them into three groups. This allowed the development of a contextual frame and emphasized the human dimension as a possible problem area when using medical information systems.