Technology evaluation: a case study of MARS (Missouri Automated Radiology System).

A health care technology evaluation framework is presented along with its application to the Missouri Automated Radiology System (MARS) project. The framework is made up of the following components: evaluation objectives, evaluation design, system documentation, analysis model, evaluation measures, and data collection. The results of applying the framework indicate that MARS incerases the cost of diagnostic radiology 2.3 per cent, significantly decreases report response time, and successfully performs the film management function.