Use of health information technology by children's hospitals in the United States.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the adoption of health information technology by children's hospitals and to document barriers and priorities as they relate to health information technology adoption. METHODS Primary data of interest were obtained through the use of a survey instrument distributed to the chief information officers of 199 children's hospitals in the United States. Data were collected on current and future use of a variety of clinical health information technology and telemedicine applications, organizational priorities, barriers to use of health information technology, and hospital and chief information officer characteristics. RESULTS Among the 109 responding hospitals (55%), common clinical applications included clinical scheduling (86.2%), transcription (85.3%), and pharmacy (81.9%) and laboratory (80.7%) information. Electronic health records (48.6%), computerized order entry (40.4%), and clinical decision support systems (35.8%) were less common. The most common barriers to health information technology adoption were vendors' inability to deliver products or services to satisfaction (85.4%), lack of staffing resources (82.3%), and difficulty in achieving end-user acceptance (80.2%). The most frequent priority for hospitals was to implement technology to reduce medical errors or to promote safety (72.5%). CONCLUSION This first national look at health information technology use by children's hospitals demonstrates the progress in health information technology adoption, current barriers, and priorities for these institutions. In addition, the findings can serve as important benchmarks for future study in this area.