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7 - The healthcare information technology sector
- Edited by Lawton Robert Burns, University of Philadelphia
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- Book:
- The Business of Healthcare Innovation
- Published online:
- 05 November 2012
- Print publication:
- 26 July 2012, pp 451-514
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- Chapter
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Summary
Introduction to information technology
Healthcare information technology (IT) was a $33 billion industry in the US in 2007, with global spending at $79.6 billion. The sector shows signs of further growth, due partly to the support of Congress and the Obama administration. One market research firm projects $40 billion in IT spending in the US by the end of 2011. It is also an industry in transition, from early applications that supported batch processing of financial transactions to sophisticated, artificial intelligence-assisted real-time clinical process management systems. This chapter will discuss the size and organization of this important sector, review the major applications developing in healthcare IT, and also look at the barriers to the adoption and use of these technologies.
Over the next decade, IT holds great potential for improving the healthcare experiences for patients and their families through facilitating more rapid and accurate diagnoses, fewer medical errors, and reducing duplicative information requests in the treatment and payment process. While overall IT spending faltered in the wake of the collapse of the internet bubble, healthcare IT spending grew in the 2000s in the US due to pressure from payers and clinical leaders to improve clinical quality and outcomes. However, after the economic downturn that began in 2007, healthcare companies began to seek ways of limiting non-urgent spending, including spending on health IT. Nonetheless, Congress and the Obama Administration have increased investment in health IT. During his first year in office, President Obama signed into law the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act portion of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which allocated $36 billion to support investments in healthcare IT.
7 - The healthcare information technology sector
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- By Jeff C. Goldsmith, Associate Professor of Medical Education University of Virginia
- Edited by Lawton Robert Burns, University of Pennsylvania
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- Book:
- The Business of Healthcare Innovation
- Published online:
- 22 September 2009
- Print publication:
- 25 August 2005, pp 322-347
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- Chapter
- Export citation
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Summary
Introduction to information technology
Healthcare information technology (IT) is expected to be almost a $100 billion business worldwide by 2005, comparable in scale to a Latin American economy. It is also an industry in transition, from early applications which supported batch processing of financial transactions to sophisticated, artificial intelligence-assisted real time clinical process control. This chapter will discuss the size and organization of this important sector, review the major applications developing in healthcare information technology, and also look at the barriers to adoption and use of these important technologies.
Over the next decade, of all technologies that affect the healthcare experience, information technology holds the greatest potential for yielding positive changes for patients and their families – more rapid and accurate diagnoses, fewer medical errors, and less wasted time from duplicative information requests in the treatment and payment process.
While overall IT spending faltered in the wake of the collapse of the Internet bubble, healthcare IT spending has continued growing in the United States, and is expected to accelerate due to pressure from payers to improve clinical quality and outcomes.
However, even at its current levels, healthcare IT spending in the US represents only about 2.5 percent of overall health expenditures, a percentage which is less than half of that in other industries such as financial services or retailing. Healthcare IT spending is likely to grow at a near double digit rate for at least the next decade worldwide (see figure 7.1).