Economic Evaluation of an Investment in Medical Websites and Medical Web-Based Services
Research Contribution, Aims and Objectives
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- 2 Research Design
- 3Thesis Outline
1 Research Contribution, Aims and ObjectivesThe main thrust of this research is to examine ways of evaluating Information Technology (IT) interventions in the healthcare sector and apply methods that are well-established and successfully used in other economic sectors, to evaluate the efficiency of an investment in the medical websites and in the medical web-based services that they may offer. This research is original in evaluating medical websites in an economic context, rather than in a context of integrity, reliability, comprehensiveness and accuracy of the information that they publish. In contrast to past studies, this research uniquely uses only objective data and facts to achieve its aims, rather than subjective observations. Furthermore, it represents an attempt to apply evaluation methods used with success in other economic sectors to the healthcare sector by taking into account the characteristics that make healthcare to “behave” in a unique way. Finally, the impact of their application in the healthcare sector will also be assessed. In order to achieve this, deep understanding of past researches concerning evaluation in healthcare should be obtained as well as of the advantages and disadvantages of the methods that will be used and the assumptions that drive each method. Thus the main aim of this research is to evaluate the medical websites from an economic perspective. In order to achieve this, Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Return on Investment (ROI) approaches will be used. In order to estimate the “benefits” for applying CBA the Willingness to Pay (WTP) concept will be used. The objectives of the research that will lead to the achievement of the above main aim are:
2 Research DesignTo achieve the Aforementioned research objectives, a comprehensive study of the extant literature regarding the evaluation processes for IT interventions and more specifically in the healthcare and medical IT interventions field as well as regarding the economic evaluation methods and techniques applied in the healthcare and other economic sectors, is considered vital. The past knowledge led the researcher to better define the knowledge gap and identify the most appropriate means, processes and actions required to fulfil the objectives of the research. The choice of the more appropriate and efficient economic evaluation methods and techniques was derived from the knowledge acquired from the past literature. Moreover, after the thorough examination of existing evaluation frameworks in the IT and healthcare application fields, a new holistic evaluation framework for the purpose of the evaluation of the medical web-based services is developed. Based on the newly developed evaluation framework, the factors that affect the operational excellence and the survivability and sustainability of the medical websites are first assessed, followed by the identification and assessment of the “costs” and the “benefits” that arise from the use of the medical websites and the web-based services they offer for the users and the medical website administrators. After the estimation of the “cost” and “benefits” related to the operations of the medical websites the application of the Cost-Benefit analysis (CBA) and the Return on Investment (ROI) approach will follow. The calculation of the CBA and ROI ratios insights about the general value of the medical websites and the efficiency of an investment useful in a medical website. Finally the aforementioned ratio estimations combined with the results regarding the factors that affect the operational excellence and the survivability /sustainability of the medical websites, plus an analysis of the key stakeholders/actors involved in the medical website’s operations, leads to the final outputs of this research.
Figure : Research Design 3Thesis OutlineChapter 1: This chapter provides an introduction to the main issues that this research addresses. In this chapter, the aims, the objectives and the area of research process are comprehensively described. The main topic of this research, which is the economic evaluation of medical websites and their use as well as the efficiency of an investment in a medical website, is presented alongside with its impact and contribution to the scientific community. Chapter 2: This chapter provides an overview of the background knowledge regarding the evaluation processes, techniques and methods applied in the healthcare and other economic sectors and it confirms the presence of a significant knowledge gap regarding the economic evaluation web-based services in the healthcare sector in general and more specific in the field of the medical technological interventions. Only a few studies applying CBA and ROI in the area under investigation were identified and thus the specific knowledge field is considered “incomplete”. Background knowledge on the aspects of this research covers issues concerning the implementation of the economic evaluation process in general and in particular in the healthcare sector as well as the origin, the application and the special issues concerning the evaluation methods that will be applied. These evaluation methods are: Cost Benefit Analysis and Return on Investment. The implementation of economic evaluation in general and in healthcare is the first issue that is examined in past literature. Extant literature provides plenty of opinions about the advantages of the implementation of an evaluation process, and highlights that the adoption of these processes in an emergency for the healthcare sector. The lack of the incorrect application or non-application at all of these methods is suggested to be one of the major reasons of the inefficiency in the healthcare field. In order to implement an evaluation in healthcare it is vital to evaluate the processes and the information technology aspects since these can directly affect the efficiency, safety and the quality of the processes and the final outcome of the service delivered. Until now the Cost benefit Analysis (CBA) and the Return on Investment (ROI) approaches were used in healthcare in order to evaluate medical treatments, treatment processes and enhance medical education rather than focusing on evaluating organizational aspects, and technological interventions and processes, applying in healthcare sector what was successfully used in other economic sectors such as business and manufacturing. The issues concerning Cost-Benefit Analysis was the main cause of huge debates among the scientific community are presented, its advantages and disadvantages based on previous studies are analysed as well as suggestions for the correct application of the method and the correct interpretation of its final results. Moreover, very few studies on ROI in healthcare technology were identified and the field is considered “incomplete” because it does not take into consideration the perspective of the patients and the medical practitioners that are affected by the technology in healthcare. ROI of medical technology, from the patient’s perspective, is measured in terms of how safer makes the provided medical services and how much it enhances the total effectiveness of the healthcare (Frisse M., 2006). Finally Willingness to Pay (WTP) is analysed as a promising method to evaluate the behavioural responses of the public in general or a specific target group towards a specific scenario, product, and service or attribute (Rose et al., 2009) and it will be used in the research to assess the benefits from using web based healthcare intervention.
The data analysis process focuses on subjective data based on the medical websites’ traffic flow estimations and rankings rather than on objective data referring to the readability of the websites’ contents, the presentation aspects and the accuracy of the information on the medical websites, as past researches did. Chapter 6: In this chapter the Cost-Benefit and Return on Investment approaches are implemented after the careful assessment of the costs and the “benefits” related to the operations of the medical websites. Innovative tools were used for the as accurate as possible assessment of the costs involved in the operations of a medical website, while for the assessment of its benefits for the users as well as for the website’s administrators a Willingness to Pay approach in an online survey setting was employed. For the purpose of the WTP survey novel crowd-sourcing techniques were used to lead to an unbiased sample of participants so the survey to produce valid and useful result. The results appear to be promising for investment on the emerging market of the medical websites and medical web-based services.
Moreover, this chapter summarises the main conclusions of this research and evaluates research outcomes. Finally, this chapter examines the applicability of the finding and provides directions for future researches required in the emerging field of the medical websites and medical web-based services and services. Download 1.95 Mb. Share with your friends:
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