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Health Information Technology (HIT) in healthcare
Introduction
Health Information Technology (HIT) is important contributor to the development of
healthcare, transforming how the healthcare information is structured using digital tools as well
as technologies such as telemedicine, electronic medical records (EMRs), electronic health
records (EHRs), (Alolayyan et al. 2020). This timeline showcases significant historical events that
have shaped the development of HIT since its inception and impacted present-day healthcare
systems. Knowing these pivotal moments can help us appreciate the progress made by HIT thus
far as well as anticipate what it might bring in future advancements.
Timeline
1972 - Regenstreif Institute develops the first electronic medical record system.
1987 - The Institute of Medicine releases a report that calls for the adoption of computer-based
patient records (Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Improving the Patient Record 1997).
1991 - The Veterans Health Administration implements the VistA EHR system.
2004 – The US President George W. Bush demands for the extensive implementation of EHRs
within the United States by 2014 (The White House 2004).
2006 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announces the EHR Motivation
Program to increase implementation of EHRs by EPs and eligible hospitals for efforts to adopt,
implement, upgrade meaningfully use certified EHR technology .
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2009 – The President appended his signature to The Health Information Technology for
Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act , into a law, and providing $30 billion in capital for the
implementation of EHRs as well as other HIT(U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
2017).
2010 - The Affordable Care Act (ACA) take in requirements for the meaningful use of EHRs to
enhance patient care as well as minimize healthcare costs.
2015 - The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)
announces a roadmap for interoperability of EHRs and other HIT.
2017 - The ONC releases a draft of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement
(TEFCA) to support the secure exchange of health information between healthcare providers.
2021 - The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of telemedicine and remote
monitoring technologies in healthcare delivery.
Successes and Challenges
Health Information Technology (HIT) has transformed the healthcare industry, providing
a variety of benefits such as upgraded patient safety along with quality of care, amplified
productivity, and cost savings (Alolayyan et al. 2020). Nevertheless, all this does not come
without some level of challenges, such as high costs for implementation can minimize the level
of adoption of this technology; technical difficulties can be root cause of delays successful use;
privacy fears must be considered when dealing with sensitive medical data; and absence of
interoperability amongst EHRs systems has made it problematic for health information exchange
across diverse organizations s (Alolayyan et al. 2020). Despite these obstacles however, if they
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are addressed properly then healthcare providers will likely reap great rewards from their
adoption of HIT technology solutions – making all that effort worth it in the end.
Predictions
Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) is expected to continue developing and refining
for next the next 3-5 years. The more artificial intelligence and machine learning become
progressive, the more the technology will allow healthcare providers to achieve more precise
analyses and treatments for medical ailments. Also, the extensive acceptance of telemedicine
technologies will allow patients to receive medical access from anyplace with an internet
connection (Alolayyan et al. 2020). TEFCA, which is an example of Interoperability standards are
also being established which would permit healthcare providers to share data safely between
each other in a unified way (CMS 2023). All these developments are certain to lead the
stakeholders towards better patient outcomes in terms of quality of care, cost savings, and
convenience in accessing health services
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References
Alolayyan, Main Naser, Mohammad S. Alyahya, Abdallah Hasan Alalawin, Aftab Shoukat, and
Farid T. Nusairat. 2020. “Health Information Technology and Hospital Performance the
Role of Health Information Quality in Teaching Hospitals.” Heliyon 6, no. 10 (October):
e05040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05040.
CMS. 2023. “Promoting Interoperability Programs | CMS.” Www.cms.gov. January 9, 2023.
https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Improving the Patient Record. 1997. The ComputerBased Patient Record: Revised Edition: An Essential Technology for Health Care. Edited by
Richard S. Dick, Elaine B. Steen, and Don E. Detmer. PubMed. Washington (DC): National
Academies Press (US). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK233047/.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. 2017. “HITECH Act Enforcement Interim Final
Rule.” HHS.gov. 2017. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/specialtopics/hitech-act-enforcement-interim-final-rule/index.html.