Title: Linking medical technology and quality of healthcare delivery: an exploratory study of a stage model

Authors: Elie Geisler

Addresses: Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois 60661, USA

Abstract: This article reports the very preliminary results from a study of the implementation, adoption, and utilisation of picture archiving and communication system (PACS) in a sample of 141 hospitals in the USA. The research question was: |What are the impacts/contributions of PACS on the quality of care in provider organisations where PACS has been adopted and implemented?|. PACS was chosen because it is considered a mature technology widely adopted by provider organisations worldwide. The methodology applied a stage-model previously used successfully in the evaluation and measurement of the outcomes from R&D and technology in other sectors of the economy. Preliminary findings show that there is a positive correlation between differentiated outcomes from PACS and quality of care. Initial conclusions suggest that to obtain a better relationship between investments in medical technologies and care, we should explore the various outcomes from the technology, in differentiated stages of the process.

Keywords: medical technologies; healthcare delivery; picture archiving and communication system; PACS outcomes; quality of care; stage-model; hospitals; USA; United States; healthcare technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2011.040475

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2011 Vol.12 No.3/4, pp.199 - 214

Published online: 28 Mar 2015 *

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