UK case study

For those of you that don't know, there is currently a major initiative to introduce a series of new technologies into the NHS in England. The trials and tribulations of this process provide much interesting food for thought about how technologies are introduced into health care and their impact.

One system that is being introduced is called Choose and Book - the basic idea being that a GP can use the system to request an appointment for a patient with an appropriate specialist. The system is meant to increase choice for patients because they can see the range of locations where they could go.

I just came across this news article on the system.

Reading it made me think about the challenges of evaluating such a system but also the importance of doing so. If different health care providers are implementing and engaging with the system in different ways, there is the potential for huge variation in impact on the process of care. But it also means its important to understand the relationship between how the system is implemented (including features of the implementation process such as training) and its subsequent impact on the process of care.