The Growth of Medical Information Systems in the United States

Abstract

It often has been said that 25% to 40% of a hospital's total costs are expended in the development, documentation, and transfer of information. Dealing with these tasks effectively and efficiently is both the greatest burden and the greatest challenge to health services administrators. This book represents an attempt by a highly knowledgeable author to describe the effort of dealing with the information glut in hospitals by automated means. This modern and up-to-date book is divided into nine chapters: Introduction," "Definition and Means of Comparing Medical Information Systems (MISs)," "State of the Art of MISs," "Description of MISs," "Evaluating the Worth of MISs," "Barriers to the Development and Diffusion of MIS Technology," "Effects of Changes in Technology on Future MISs," "Impact of Public Policy on the Development, Adoption, and Diffusion of MIS Technology," and "Conclusions." The book grew out of a background paper, "The Development and Diffusion of a Medical