| The need for an effective strategy for evaluating and justifying technology initiatives in the healthcare industry grows. This work focuses on the challenges of information technology evaluation and justification in a healthcare sector.; An overview of the challenges faced in the health care industry is presented. A review of works relating to "technological justification methods" and the use of "Data Envelopment Analysis" (DEA) for healthcare follow. The development of a framework that focuses on the dental industry is then presented. The framework includes the development of a "process-oriented business model" of the dental industry. Additionally, an industry-specific technology implementation strategy is developed, along with the evaluation of various business-case economic measures for their effective utilization in a dental technology initiative. This thesis utilizes DEA in a novel way to determine clinical efficiency, to address potential sources of inefficiency, and determine the impact of a technology initiative on the technical efficiency of a dental practice. |
