Policy Implications of Scholarly Publications in Health Information Technology

Abstract

Health information technology (HIT) has become a significant tool in medical practice, and public and international health. Much has been written about HIT and its implications on policy development in the management, practice, and delivery of health care. To better understand the implications on policy development of HIT, a limited literature search was conducted using key terms and a simple search engine. Twelve peer-reviewed published papers were chosen based on keywords and citation frequency from 2000 to 2012. Twelve papers were reviewed. The implications toward policy formulation based on the search terms and the number of citations the paper had from its initial appearance in the literature are presented. The range of citations is 379 to 2. Citation frequency improves over time and in this case, a low citation number reflects relatively recent publication. HIT is a significant tool in healthcare at all levels. Innovation since 2000 has rapidly outpaced technological innovation prior this decadal review. Policy formulation can be impacted by HIT as well as other innovation. However, the current policy framework is not adept to support the accelerated rate of change. The scholarly publications presented here highlight the impact HIT can have on policy and the need to amend the current policy framework.