Assessing the quality of medical information technology economic evaluations: room for improvement.

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.

Duke Scholars

Author Eric Leo Eisenstein Medicine, Cardiology

Author Kevin J. Anstrom Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics

Author David Franklin Lobach Family Medicine and Community Health