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The Handbook of eHealth Evaluation: An Evidence-based Approach edited by Francis Lau and Craig Kuziemsky is a new book published by the University of Victoria that aims to provide a practical guide on the evaluation of eHealth systems.
About the Book
Over the years, we have seen a steady growth in the number and type of eHealth systems being adopted in different healthcare settings. Proponents of these systems claim eHealth can improve the quality of care provided, leading to better provider performance and health outcomes. Yet the evidence for such claims is mixed thus far, with some studies demonstrating benefits, others showing little to no impact, and some settings being even worse off than before. Understandably, there are now increasing pressures on government agencies and health organizations to demonstrate tangible return on value for the significant eHealth investments made.
This handbook is intended as a primary resource or a supplementary resource to textbooks on eHealth for students enrolled in courses related to eHealth evaluation. This handbook is also intended for individuals who are involved with the planning, design, implementation, use, support and assessment of eHealth systems in different healthcare settings. These individuals may be managers, analysts, developers, providers and trainees who are involved with some aspects of eHealth systems as part of their day-to-day work. In large organizations some of these individuals may have dedicated roles in eHealth evaluation. But often we expect them to be responsible for aspects of eHealth planning, design, implementation and support, with evaluation assigned as an afterthought or an adjunct role on the side. At the same time, this handbook can also be a useful resource for individuals who are already familiar with eHealth evaluation. It can serve as a reference text on details regarding particular evaluation approaches and the current state of knowledge in selected eHealth domains covered as case examples.
The book is available on UVicSpace or order a hard copy through the UVic Bookstore.
About the Co-Editor
Francis Lau is a Professor in the School of Health Information Science at UVic. He has a PhD in medical sciences, with specialization in medical informatics. He has a diverse background in business, computing, and medical sciences, with 14 years of professional experience in the health IT industry. Dr. Lau’s research foci are in health information system evaluation, clinical vocabularies, and palliative/primary care informatics. During 2008-2013, he was the recipient of the eHealth Chair funded by Canadian Institutes for Health Research/Canada Health Infoway to establish an eHealth Observatory to examine the impact of health information system deployment in Canada.
