A Conceptual Model to Evaluate Technology Implementations: A Home Care Case Study

Abstract

Digitalisation in the form of new technologies and solutions is a rapid movement affecting the whole world. Home or assistive care has had a long period of trouble trying keep up, even though it is a promising area of application. As home care tries to catch up, rushing to implement technologies or IT systems can result in misfit solutions that do not satisfy their purpose. The values of healthcare mean that measuring success of technology implementation is different than in production sectors. The main focus is patient satisfaction and should, therefore, also be included in any evaluation. The present study proposes a conceptual model that aims to facilitate considering both quantitative and qualitative data, including patient and caregiver values, when measuring efficiency in healthcare management. The model combines multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) to make it possible to handle both crisp and fuzzy values. The model is tested and evaluated using a home care case study, which shows promising results.