Customer Reviews

Evaluation Methods in Medical Informatics

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I've read the book about 3 times. Not because of I didn't know what else to read, but more to its condensed character in covering state-of-the-art evaluation methods valid in medical, dental, and biological sciences. The authors start with a general introduction to evaluation per se (What is it? Who needs it and Why? What makes it so difficult?) and discuss next mainly in two different parts 1) objectivists and 2) subjectivist studies giving detailed hands-on the general structure, basics of measurement, study design, conduct, and analysis of each study modalities, including methodological guidelines and a proposal quality checklist! They finaly describe the organizational evaluation and hierarchy of medical information resources as well as ethical and legal considerations during evaluation studies. References after each chapter are as standard as the self-tests to give feedback and motivation. In order to get maximum benefit the reader should be familiar with basic mathematics and biostatistics. A must for all helthcare professionals conducting research.

I was looking for something that had an approach to healthcare informatics evaluations, and I found what I wanted in this book. This is the second edition, so don't be put off by the title, which was revised from the first edition.

The authors of this book set out the basics of evaluation techniques very comprehensively, and backed that up with excellent examples of evaluations. Even though they modified what we might recognize as standard research methodology, (use of subjectivist and objectivist approaches, when we might use qualitative and quantitative), they explain it so well, that it is easy to follow, quite apart from providing additional information about other approaches.

I thought the key theorem they included is one that Dr. Friedman developed about the use of computers to increase the value of the outcome. That is a wonderful basis to keep in mind when undertaking evaluations. Essentially the question is, does the addition of the computer improve our knowledge?

Finally, I liked many of the practical examples that they included of studies and approaches to them.

Overall, this is a great book and a solid reference for anyone interested in the subject of healthcare systems evaluations. It is as relevant to the academic reader as to the commercial practitioner.