Study: Health information technology improves patient care
Patient Safety Monitor Alert
January 28, 2009
A study undertaken by researchers at Johns Hopkins University shows that clinical information technology improves hospital medicine. The study, published in the January 26 Archives of Internal Medicine evaluated 41 hospitals in Texas, comparing the levels of automation at the different facilities with different measures of patient care. The researchers collected data from the participating facilities from December 1, 2005 through May 30, 2006.
The study shows that when facilities had a higher level of automation, they also had lower mortality rates, costs, and complications. The study evaluated automation on a few levels: automated notes and records, order entry, and clinical decision support. The study, which is one of the few of its type, makes valid the notion that health information technology on a large scale does improve patient care.
