Evaluation Methods in Medical Informatics

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Challenges of Evaluation in Medical Informatics

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 1-15

3. Evaluation as a Field

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 17-39

4. Studying Clinical Information Resources

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 41-64

5. Structure of Objectivist Studies

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 65-88

6. Basics of Measurement

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 89-117

7. Developing Measurement Technique

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 119-154

8. Design, Conduct, and Analysis of Demonstration Studies

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 155-203

9. Subjectivist Approaches to Evaluation

   • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

   Pages 205-221

10. Design and Conduct of Subjectivist Studies

    • Allen C. Smith III

    Pages 223-253

11. Organizational Evaluation of Medical Information Resources

    • Bonnie Kaplan

    Pages 255-280

12. Proposing, Reporting, and Refereeing Evaluation Studies; Study Ethics

    • Charles P. Friedman, Jeremy C. Wyatt

    Pages 281-296

13. Back Matter

    Pages 297-311

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As director of a training program in medical informatics, I have found that one of the most frequent inquiries from graduate students is, "Although I am happy with my research focus and the work I have done, how can I design and carry out a practical evaluation that proves the value of my contribution?" Informatics is a multifaceted, interdisciplinary field with research that ranges from theoretical developments to projects that are highly applied and intended for near-term use in clinical settings. The implications of "proving" a research claim accordingly vary greatly depending on the details of an individual student's goals and thesis state­ ment. Furthermore, the dissertation work leading up to an evaluation plan is often so time-consuming and arduous that attempting the "perfect" evaluation is fre­ quently seen as impractical or as diverting students from central programming or implementation issues that are their primary areas of interest. They often ask what compromises are possible so they can provide persuasive data in support of their claims without adding another two to three years to their graduate student life. Our students clearly needed help in dealing more effectively with such dilem­ mas, and it was therefore fortuitous when, in the autumn of 1991, we welcomed two superb visiting professors to our laboratories.

• Medical Informatics
• basics
• care
• ethics
• evaluation
• health
• health care
• organizations
• training

• University of North Carolina, Pittsburgh, USA

  Charles P. Friedman

• Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, USA

  Charles P. Friedman

• Imperial Cancer Research Fund, London, UK

  Jeremy C. Wyatt

Policies and ethics