Evaluating Healthcare Information Technology Outside of Academia: Observations from the National Resource Center for Healthcare Information Technology at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Eric G Poon, MD, MPDa,b,
- Caitlin M Cusack, MD, MPDc,f,
- Julie J McGowan, PhD, MA, MLSd,e,f
- aBrigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA
- bHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA
- cNational Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, Office in Bethesda, MD
- dIndiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN
- eRegenstrief Institute, Inc., Indianapolis, IN
- fNational Resource Center for Healthcare Information Technology, Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD
- Correspondence: Eric Poon, MD, MPH, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 3/F 1620 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02120 (Email: epoon{at}partners.org).
- Received 13 October 2008
- Accepted 28 May 2009
Abstract
The National Resource Center for Health Information Technology (NRC) was formed in the fall of 2004 as part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) health IT portfolio to support its grantees. One of the core functions of the NRC was to assist grantees in their evaluation efforts of Health IT. This manuscript highlights some common challenges experienced by health IT project teams at nonacademic institutions, including inappropriately scoped and resourced evaluation efforts, inappropriate choice of metrics, inadequate planning for data collection and analysis, and lack of consideration of qualitative methodologies. Many of these challenges can be avoided or overcome. The strategies adopted by various AHRQ grantees and the lessons learned from their projects should become part of the toolset for current and future implementers of health IT as the nation moves rapidly towards its widespread adoption.
Footnotes
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This work was supported in part by the AHRQ National Resource Center for Health IT, contract number 290-04-0016.
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The viewpoints expressed in this manuscript reflect the experience of the coauthors who worked on the NRC V&E group. Members of the AHRQ HIT leadership team were asked to review the manuscript draft and their comments have been incorporated into the present manuscript.
