Information technologies and patient safety.

Advances in health information technology provide significant opportunities for improvements in surgical patient safety. The adoption and use of electronic health records can enhance communication along the surgical spectrum of care. Bar coding and radiofrequency identification technology are strategies to prevent retained surgical sponges and for tracking the operating room supply chain. Computerized intraoperative monitoring systems can improve the performance of the operating room team. Automated data registries collect patient information to be analyzed and used for surgical quality improvement.