title: Assessing the quality of medical information technology economic evaluations: room for improvement.
abstract: Medical information systems are being recognized for their ability to improve patient outcomes. While standards for the economic evaluation of medical technologies were instituted in the mid-1990s, little is known about their application in medical information technology studies. In a review of medical information technology evaluation studies published between 1982 and 2002, we found that the volume and variety of economic evaluations had increased; however, investigators routinely omitted key cost or effectiveness elements in their designs, resulting in publications with incomplete, and potentially biased, economic findings. Of the studies that made economic claims, 23% did not report any economic data, 40% failed to include any effectiveness measures, and more than 50% used a case study or pre- post- test design. Thus, during a time when health economic study methods in general have experienced significant development, there is little evidence of similar progress in medical information technology economic evaluations.
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: Maqui
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Anstrom
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Crosslin
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Lobach
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D007256:Information Systems / Q000191:economics*; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000379:methods; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*