Estimating the success of e-health collaborative services: the THEMIS framework.
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2011-02-14
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Abstract
This study proposes a prototype framework THEMIS for estimating algebraically the success S of the electronic health collaborative services e HCS and examines two hypotheses first that the S estimation of an e HCS developed by a third party vendor demands a shrunk formative model and second that causal relationships between the involved dimensions FFP CO COSTS do exist and their parameters affect the S from weakly to strongly and vice versa A formative model was shrunk to generate three causal dimensions Collaborators Objections Costs Fitness for Purpose Then the new framework THEMIS was enriched with a causal loop diagram a prototype scoring method termed polarisation method and 42 questions In order to investigate the feasibility of the THEMIS framework we estimated the S of 15 e HCSs and the algebraic outcomes E S were compared one by one with usage categories produced by a commercial software Our findings supported the initial hypotheses The S was estimated with accuracy for the e HCSs with a weak E S the commercial software verified that they remained idle several times during the 11 month evaluation period whereas the e HCS with a strong E S the commercial software verified that they were used frequently Frameworks such as the one proposed which are based on both qualitative and quantitative methods may provide significant support on the S estimation field