n engl j med 362;5 nejm.org february 4, 2010 382 I is the lifeblood of modern medicine. Health information technology (HIT) is destined to be its circulatory system. Without that system, neither individual physicians nor health care institutions can perform at their best or deliver the highest-quality care, any more than an Olympian could excel with a failing heart. Yet the proportion of U.S. h...

Electronic medical record (EMR) systems and e-prescribing by physicians have the potential to reduce the incidence of medical errors and to improve the provision of care to patients through better compliance with recommended standards, improved coordination of care, and ready access to current information. 1, 2 In 2008, after a national survey , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (C...

Background The level of knowledge and using health information technology by clinicians, students and staff has always been one of the essential issues in the field of health. Objective The objective of the present study was to evaluate HIT knowledge, attitude, and practice habits among health care professionals and students in educational hospitals in Iran. Methods This case study was carr...

Numerous gaps in the current medication use system impede complete transmission of electronically identifiable and standardized extemporaneous formulations as well as a uniform approach to medication therapy management (MTM) for paediatric patients. The Pharmacy Health Information Technology Collaborative (Pharmacy HIT) identified six components that may have direct importance for pharmacy rela...

BACKGROUND Patient participation in health care is associated with improved outcomes for patients and hospitals. New technologies are creating vast potential for patients to participate in care at the bedside. Several studies have explored patient use, satisfaction and perceptions of health information technology (HIT) interventions in hospital. Understanding what works for whom, under what con...

BACKGROUND Technology-based aids for lifestyle change are becoming more prevalent for chronic conditions. Important "digital divides" remain, as well as concerns about privacy, data security, and lack of motivation. Researchers need a way to characterize participants' readiness to use health technologies. To address this need, we created an instrument to measure patient readiness to engage with...

BACKGROUND Patients with gaps in health insurance coverage often defer or forgo cancer prevention services. These delays in cancer detection and diagnoses lead to higher rates of morbidity and mortality and increased costs. Recent advances in health information technology (HIT) create new opportunities to enhance insurance support services that reduce coverage gaps through automated processes a...

BACKGROUND Secure clinical messaging and document exchange utilizing the Direct Protocol (Direct interoperability) has been widely implemented in health information technology (HIT) applications including electronic health records (EHRs) and by health care providers and organizations in the United States. While Direct interoperability has allowed clinicians and institutions to satisfy regulator...

A goal of health information technology (HIT) is to help eliminate variation when it may compromise safety, efficiency, or quality of care. This study utilized direct observation and semi-structured interviews to examine variability in HIT use among four nurse practitioners and four physicians in an ambulatory diabetes clinic and to assess the impact of this variability on patient care. While u...

BACKGROUND Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to improve clinical outcomes, increase health provider productivity and reduce healthcare costs. Over half of all patient care is delivered in physician practice organisations, yet adoption and utilisation of HIT in these groups lags behind inpatient facilities. OBJECTIVE To better understand current utilisation rates along wit...