Author/Source:Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003.
This report is based on research conducted by the Southern California Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC), under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This report was prepared to assess the evidence base regarding benefits and costs of health information technology (HIT) systems, that is, the value of discrete HIT functions and systems in various healthcare settings, particularly those providing pediatric care.
Conclusions: HIT has the potential to enable a dramatic transformation in the delivery of health care, making it safer, more effective, and more efficient. Some organizations have already realized major gains through the implementation of multifunctional, interoperable HIT systems built around an EHR. However, widespread implementation of HIT has been limited by a lack of generalizable knowledge about what types of HIT and implementation methods will improve care and manage costs for specific health organizations. The reporting of HIT development and implementation requires fuller descriptions of both the intervention and the
organizational/economic environment in which it is implemented.