Page - 35 - in Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners

Assessing Technology Success and Failure Enrico Coiera a,1 a Macquarie University, Sydney Australia Abstract. Information value chain theory provides a straightforward approach to information system evaluation and design. It first separates the different benefits and costs that might be associated with the use of a given information technology at different stages along a value chain stretching from user interaction to real world outcome. Next, using classical decision theoretic measures such as probabilities and utilities, the resulting value chain can be used to create a profile for a particular technology or technology bundle. Value chain analysis helps focus on the reasons for system implementation success or failure. It also assists in making comparative assessments amongst different solutions, to understand which might be best suited for different clinical contexts. Keywords. Evaluation, Value of information, Utility, Information technology Learning objectives After reading this chapter the reader will: 1. Describe the typical steps in an information value chain for information technology use in healthcare. 2. Understand and demonstrate proficiency with value of information calculations. 3. Appreciate that different technologies will generate different value chain profiles. 4. Use value profiles to explain where in the chain a specific technology is most and least effective. 5. Use value chains to diagnose problems in the implementation of a specific technology bundle. 1. Introduction to Information Value Chain Theory The closely linked processes of design and evaluation are crucial to ensuring informatics interventions work. There are two basic goals when evaluating any information or communication system. Firstly the evaluation must help determine if a system is fit for purpose, or its efficacy (i.e. does it do what it is meant to do?). Secondly we may want to decide if a system is the best choice amongst alternatives when used in to solve a problem in the real world (its relative effectiveness) (i.e. which solution should we pick?). 1 Corresponding Author: Enrico Coiera, E-mail: enrico.coiera@mq.edu.au Using Information Value Chain Theory Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics P. Scott et al. (Eds.) © 2019 The authors and IOS Press. This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). doi:10.3233/SHTI190109 35