Hospital information systems (HIS) are a substantial quality and cost factor in health care. Systematic monitoring of HIS quality is an important task for information management; however, this task is often seen to be insufficiently supported by available methods and tools. The aim of this research project is to develop a comprehensive monitoring system to assess the quality of hospital information systems, taking into account both computer-based and paper-based information processing.

The structure of the developed monitoring system consists of a matrix, crossing HIS quality criteria on one axis (e.g., accessibility of information, or correctness and completeness of information) with a list of process steps within patient care on the other axis (e.g., patient admission, order entry, or clinical documentation). Relevant fields in this matrix, being defined by one quality criterion and one process step, contain detailed questions, that access the HIS quality with regard to the given criterion in a given process step.

Based on the matrix, a questionnaire with around 140 questions has been developed, consisting of specific questions for physicians, nurses and other professional groups. The ongoing international evaluation will verify completeness, reliability, validity, and feasibility of this HIS quality monitoring system. First evaluation steps point to a high acceptance of this approach among IT staff and clinical staff.