Development of a Hierarchical Decision Model (HDM) for health technology assessment (HTA) to design and implement a new patient care database for low back pain

Decision-making in healthcare towards the use, implementation and design of assistive information technologies like patient care database is looked from multiple perspectives. We propose utilization of Hierarchical Decision Model (DHM) for new patient care database design for low back pain at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), Portland, Oregon. Extensive literature review provides justification for the criteria used. The model could be used for other patient care software assessment in healthcare. The strategies (2^nd layer of the model) could be revised to further fit the needs of a particular department. The next stage of current research is model implementation, expert quantification gathering and analysis at OHSU.