Health Information Technology: Will It Make Higher Quality and More Efficient Healthcare Delivery Possible?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2007

Publication Title

International Journal of Public Policy

Volume

2

Issue

3/4

First page number:

202

Last page number:

209

Abstract

Holding a new promise for improving efficiency and quality and reducing cost, Health Information Technology (HIT) has become the latest national priority. Selecting three evidence-based national quality indicator systems/models as examples, this paper examines relationships between quality of care and HIT as well as their economic implications. The analysis focuses on the three systems' overall goals; targeted healthcare facilities; data sources; quality indicator measures; data format/standardisation; stages of development; levels of adaptation; and complexity of IT infrastructure including inter-operability, patient involvement, resource requirements, and potential financial gains. The discussion concludes that although enormous challenges are ahead, through joint efforts by all partners and players relating to the healthcare system, the Electronic Health Record (EHR) information system has a potential to fundamentally transform the healthcare delivery to a high-quality and efficient system, which will ultimately benefit patients.

Keywords

Electronic health records; Evidence-based; Data standardization; Healthcare delivery; Health information technology; Health services – Technological innovations; HIT; Information system; Information storage and retrieval systems – Medical care; IT infrastructure; Medical care – Quality control; Medical records – Data processing; Targeted healthcare facilities; Patient involvement; Public policy; Quality indicators; Quality of care

Disciplines

Health and Medical Administration | Health Information Technology | Health Policy

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.


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