Is health information technology associated with patient safety in the United States?

Abstract

Key findings: (1) Estimates using national data provide tentative evidence of a positive relationship between health information technology (HIT) and clinical quality. Electronic medical records (EMRs) are associated with a statistically significant aversion of two post-operative infections per year at the average U.S. acute care hospital. (2) The study found no significant relationships for two other types of HIT - nurse charting and picture archiving communication systems (PACS) - or for two other measures of patient safety - post-operative hemorrhages/hematomas and post-operative pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis (DVT) - which could reflect either the true value of the HIT or limitations of the study.