Biomedical Informatics Insights

¹UAB School of Public Health, 1530 3rd Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 35294. ²Florida State University College of Information, 101 Louis Shores Bldg, Tallahassee, FL 32306-2100. ³UAB School of Health Professions, 1530 3rd Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 35294. ⁴Texas Tech University, Center for Health Innovation Education and Research, Box 42101, Lubbock, TX 79409-2101.

Abstract

Compared to organizations in other industries, hospitals are slow to adopt information technology (IT). Those planning for system implementation must understand the barriers to IT adoption which, in healthcare, include the relatively high acquisition and maintenance costs of sophisticated administrative and clinical information systems. Understanding the overall business case is particularly important for hospital IT planners. This paper describes the literature that examines benefits from using health IT. In addition, we focus on a series of studies conducted in Florida that provide generalizable evidence regarding the overall business case associated with hospital adoption for information systems. These studies focus broadly on the improved financial, operational, and clinical performance associated with IT.