Health care IT: supporting cost efficiencies in tough times.

An electronic medical records (EMR) system is a key information technology that will help lead to management information systems that go a long way in attacking health care inflation. This article explains some the ways EMR can be used to drive these efficiencies, especially given the recent shift in workforce demographics. These efficiencies include increasing prescription drug compliance, reducing gaps in care, and providing safe redirection from the emergency room to other more appropriate care settings. The authors assert that even though the larger role of information technology is not so easily heard amid the ongoing private/public debate about U.S. health care reform, it nonetheless is essential to controlling health care costs and establishing new frontiers of efficiency and innovation.