Background: The application of
Health Information Technologies (
HITs) can be an effective way to advance medical research and health services provision. The two-fold objective of this work is to: (i) identify and review state-of-the-art
HITs that facilitate the aims of evidence-based
[...] Read more.
Background: The application of
Health Information Technologies (
HITs) can be an effective way to advance medical research and health services provision. The two-fold objective of this work is to: (i) identify and review state-of-the-art
HITs that facilitate the aims of evidence-based medicine and (ii) propose a methodology for
HIT assessment. Methods: The systematic review was conducted according to the
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (
PRISMA) guidelines. Furthermore, we consolidated existing knowledge in the field and proposed a
Synthesis Framework for the Assessment of Health Information Technology (
SF/HIT) in order to evaluate the joint use of
Randomized Controlled Trials (
RCTs) along with
HITs in the field of evidence-based medicine. Results: 55 articles met the inclusion criteria and refer to 51 (
RCTs) published between 2008 and 2016. Significant improvements in healthcare through the use of
HITs were observed in the findings of 31 out of 51 trials—60.8%. We also confirmed that
RCTs are valuable tools for assessing the effectiveness, acceptability, safety, privacy, appropriateness, satisfaction, performance, usefulness and adherence. Conclusions: To improve health service delivery,
RCTs apply and exhibit formalization by providing measurable outputs. Towards this direction, we propose the
SF/HIT as a framework which may help researchers to carry out appropriate evaluations and extend their studies.
Full article
