title: Assessing the potential economic value of health information technology interventions in a community-based health network.
abstract: Health information professionals recognize the need to demonstrate that the benefits of health information technological (HIT) interventions outweigh their costs. However, such cost-benefit analyses are rarely conducted for HIT interventions, due in part to the lack of a standard methodology. In this study, we describe how the U.S. Public Health Service's guidelines for health economic analyses can be used to evaluate HIT interventions. This framework is described in the context of an economic analysis we are conducting for three HIT interventions to be implemented in a community-based health network caring for Medicaid beneficiaries in Durham County, North Carolina. At present, the 17,779 patients in our study cost Medicaid more than $5 million per month. In sensitivity analyses, we demonstrate that if our information intervention redirects just 10% of low-severity emergency room encounters to outpatient encounters, it will result in $12,523 of monthly savings to the local health system.
authors.affiliation: Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Eric L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Eisenstein
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Anstrom
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Macri
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Crosslin
authors.forename: Frederick S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Kensaku
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Lobach
mesh_terms: D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000191:economics*; D019058:Community Networks / Q000191:economics*; D017046:Cost Savings; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics*; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000191:economics*; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009657:North Carolina