Joan Ash, PhD, Professor, Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology (DMICE) is co-author of the new 3rd edition of the book, Evaluation Methods in Biomedical and Health Informatics. Published in the Spring Health Informatics Series, the new volume is a major update of the 2006 2nd edition that has been cited over 1000 times. The photo shows Dr. Ash holding the book, which is also available as an e-book. Her co-authors include Charles Friedman, PhD of the University of Michigan and Jeremy Wyatt, MD of the University of Southampton.
Some significant changes in the 3rd edition include:
- First and foremost, the addition of Dr. Ash as a co-author, who amplified the coverage in her area of expertise in qualitative evaluation methods applied to biomedical and health informatics research
- New chapters on study examples, study planning, studies using real world data, and mixed methods studies
- Extensive revisions of 2nd edition chapters to clarify points that students have found to be challenging
- Updated references and examples, while preserving a focus on classic studies that are also good teaching cases
- Hyperlinking in the online version
- A metaphoric “Tree of Evaluation” that organizes the content of the book (see below)
The 3rd edition shares with its predecessors a primary intended use as a textbook. To this end, each chapter includes learning objectives, examples and scenarios, self-test problems with answers, and “Food for Thought” questions. Learners at institutions with Springer site licenses such as OHSU can access the online edition free of charge.
Dr. Ash notes, “We hope this volume proves to be a useful addition to our field, and in particular a valuable resource to our learners.”
DMICE Chair William Hersh, MD adds, “Evaluation is a critical aspect of the work of academic biomedical and health informatics, as we must know if, how, and why informatics interventions improve outcomes for patients, clinicians, technologists, and society. This book is an encyclopedia of the various methods used to better understand the impact of informatics.” Dr. Hersh also has a book on the topic of information retrieval in the Springer Health Informatics series.
