gms | German Medical Science

Background: Modern Information Technology can be a key enabler for improved or adopted business models. The healthcare sector is in a process of industrialisation and the decision making process of IT is changing too. Cost-benefit models have to be in the focus of the election process – less “functions & features”. But “traditional” ROI-(return on investment) studies with their pure economic focus have limitations which do not fit to the complex healthcare world.

Background of this abstract is

Objective: The concept of evidence-based-medicine (Sackett) is adapted to information technolgoy

Methods: Different methods of analysing benefits / value of IT are presented: Public ROI, Public Value Model, different Cost-Benefit concepts of national health-record project.

Results: The concept of evidence-based IT can be a useful method for the classification of IT result, but also the “scotoma of evidence-based medicine” (Sackett) the economic part has to be introduced.

Conclusion: There is no common and accepted model to evaluate the use of IT. New approaches (like STARE-HI) are urgently needed to be able to discuss upcoming E-Health scenarios within a political, technological and economical framework for a decision-making process.