Savage Grant T, van der Reis Leo
MISQ Department, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Adv Health Care Manag. 2012;12:61-74. doi: 10.1108/s1474-8231(2012)0000012007.
This chapter reports on experts' perspectives on health information technology (HIT) and how it may be used to improve health care quality and to lower health care costs.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Two roundtables were convened that focused on how to best use HIT to improve the quality of health care while ensuring it is accessible and affordable. Participants drew upon lessons learned in the Netherlands, the United States, and other countries.
The first roundtable focused on the use of (1) electronic health records (EHRs) by health care providers, (2) cloud computing for EHRs and health portals for consumers, and (3) data registries and networks for public health surveillance. The second roundtable highlighted (1) the rapid growth of personalized medicine, (2) the corresponding growth and sophistication of bioinformatics and analytics, (3) the increasing presence of mobile HIT, and (4) the disruptive changes in the institutional structures of biomedical research and development.
Governmental sponsorship of small pilot projects to solve practicable health system problems would encourage HIT innovation among key stakeholders. However, large-scale HIT solutions developed through small pilot projects--should be pursued through public-private partnerships. At the same time, governments should speed up legislative and regulatory procedures to encourage adoption of cost-effective HIT innovations.
Mobile HIT and social media are capable of fostering disease prevention and encouraging personal responsibility for improving or stabilizing chronic diseases.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Both health services researchers and policy makers should find this chapter of value since it highlights trends in HIT and addresses how health care quality may be improved while costs are contained.
本章报告专家对健康信息技术（HIT）的看法，以及如何利用该技术提高医疗质量并降低医疗成本。
设计/方法/途径：召开了两次圆桌会议，重点讨论如何最佳利用健康信息技术提高医疗质量，同时确保其可及性和可承受性。与会者借鉴了荷兰、美国和其他国家的经验教训。
第一次圆桌会议聚焦于以下方面的应用：（1）医疗服务提供者使用电子健康记录（EHRs）；（2）用于电子健康记录的云计算和面向消费者的健康门户网站；（3）用于公共卫生监测的数据登记处和网络。第二次圆桌会议强调了：（1）个性化医疗的快速发展；（2）生物信息学和分析相应的发展及复杂性；（3）移动健康信息技术的日益普及；（4）生物医学研发机构结构的颠覆性变化。
政府对解决实际医疗系统问题的小型试点项目提供资助，将鼓励关键利益相关者进行健康信息技术创新。然而，通过小型试点项目开发的大规模健康信息技术解决方案，应通过公私合作关系来推进。同时，政府应加快立法和监管程序，以鼓励采用具有成本效益的健康信息技术创新。
移动健康信息技术和社交媒体能够促进疾病预防，并鼓励个人对改善或稳定慢性病承担责任。
原创性/价值：健康服务研究人员和政策制定者都应发现本章的价值，因为它突出了健康信息技术的趋势，并探讨了如何在控制成本的同时提高医疗质量。
