title: Health Information Technologies-Academic and Commercial Evaluation (HIT-ACE) methodology: description and application to clinical feedback systems.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health information technologies (HIT) have become nearly ubiquitous in the contemporary healthcare landscape, but information about HIT development, functionality, and implementation readiness is frequently siloed. Theory-driven methods of compiling, evaluating, and integrating information from the academic and commercial sectors are necessary to guide stakeholder decision-making surrounding HIT adoption and to develop pragmatic HIT research agendas. This article presents the Health Information Technologies-Academic and Commercial Evaluation (HIT-ACE) methodology, a structured, theory-driven method for compiling and evaluating information from multiple sectors. As an example demonstration of the methodology, we apply HIT-ACE to mental and behavioral health measurement feedback systems (MFS). MFS are a specific class of HIT that support the implementation of routine outcome monitoring, an evidence-based practice.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HIT-ACE is guided by theories and frameworks related to user-centered design and implementation science. The methodology involves four phases: (1) coding academic and commercial materials, (2) developer/purveyor interviews, (3) linking putative implementation mechanisms to hit capabilities, and (4) experimental testing of capabilities and mechanisms. In the current demonstration, phase 1 included a systematic process to identify MFS in mental and behavioral health using academic literature and commercial websites. Using user-centered design, implementation science, and feedback frameworks, the HIT-ACE coding system was developed, piloted, and used to review each identified system for the presence of 38 capabilities and 18 additional characteristics via a consensus coding process. Bibliometic data were also collected to examine the representation of the systems in the scientific literature. As an example, results are presented for the application of HIT-ACE phase 1 to MFS wherein 49 separate MFS were identified, reflecting a diverse array of characteristics and capabilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preliminary findings demonstrate the utility of HIT-ACE to represent the scope and diversity of a given class of HIT beyond what can be identified in the academic literature. Phase 2 data collection is expected to confirm and expand the information presented and phases 3 and 4 will provide more nuanced information about the impact of specific HIT capabilities. In all, HIT-ACE is expected to support adoption decisions and additional HIT development and implementation research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, 6200 NE 74th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA. lyona@uw.edu.
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Lyon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, 6200 NE 74th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.|Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Cara C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Abigail
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, 1101 E. 10th St., Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA.
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boyd
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, 6200 NE 74th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.
authors.forename: Semret
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nicodimos
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, 6200 NE 74th Street, Suite 100, Seattle, WA, 98115, USA.
authors.forename: Freda F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Guthrie Hall, Box 351525, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jungbluth
keywords: Behavioral health; Competitive analysis; Health information technology; Measurement feedback systems; Mental health; Routine outcome monitoring