HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Health Information Technology (Health IT) is an umbrella term that refers to the technologies used to manage and distribute electronic information related to health and health care. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Health IT Web site (
http://www.hhs.gov/healthit), broad use of health IT has the ability to:
* Improve health care quality;
* Prevent medical errors;
* Reduce health care costs;
* Increase administrative efficiencies;
* Decrease paperwork; and
* Expand access to affordable care.
Technologies classified as Health IT by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Web site (
http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit ) include:
* electronic health records;
* personal health records, generally those accessible through a Web interface
* e-mail communication between providers or between a provider and patient;
* automated clinical alerts and reminders linked to electronic health records;
* computerized decision support systems;
* hand-held devices containing health information, such as drug or diagnostic information;and
* other technologies that store, protect, retrieve and transfer clinical, administrative, and financial information electronically within health care settings.
An important part of Health IT is interoperability, a term that in general refers to the degree to which “various organizations or individuals are able to operate together to achieve a common goal”
In the specific context of Health IT, however, interoperability refers to the ability of health information systems to work across organizational boundaries and support the sharing of the information that they manage.
Again, according to the HHS Web site, interoperable health IT (which is sometimes referred to as Health Information Exchange, or HIE) can improve individual patient care, but it will also bring many public health benefits including:
* Early detection of infectious disease outbreaks around the country;
* Improved tracking of chronic disease management; and
* Evaluation of health care based on value enabled by the collection of de-identified pric and quality information that can be compared.
PROJECTS
The CRHRE is involved in a number of projects related to using Health IT to improve access to health care for Wyoming’s residents, particularly those in small, remote communities. These projects are listed under the “Topic Projects” link in the column to the right.
RESOURCES
For more information on Health IT, including links to Web sites, papers and presentations by CRHRE staff, and various other resources, click on the “Topic Resources” link in the column to the right.