The socioeconomic aspects of information technology for health care with emphasis on radiology 1

Abstract

Information technology is the key to cost effective and error free medical care in the United States and the only problem is that there is not enough of it yet. During the past 15 years, billions of dollars have been spent on information technology for health care with very little benefit but significant adverse effects on patients, physicians, and nurses. The truth about health care information technology (HIT) probably lies somewhere between these extreme statements, representing technophile and skeptical views, respectively. There is no doubt that computer and communication hardware has reached a state of sophistication and availability in which any and all necessary information can be generated, stored, and distributed to health care workers in support of their patient care tasks. The barriers to rapid and widespread development and diffusion of cost effective and practically useful HIT are exclusively related to human factors. This article explores some of the organizational, cultural, cognitive, and economic forces that interact to influence success of HIT initiatives in health care organizations. A key point to be recognized is that the intrinsically handcrafted nature of health care work combined with high degrees of complexity and contingency make it impossible to "computerize" with the same ease and completeness of other industries. The major thrust of the argument is that designers of information systems and health care informatics managers must meet needs of patients and care providers. The software they create and implement should promote, support, and enhance the existing processes of health care rather than seeking to dictate how direct care providers should do their work. Instead of looking for "buy in" from physicians and nurses, the informatics community must return the authority over functional specification of patient care information systems to them--where it belonged in the first place. This same lesson about computer technology and organizational politics is also being learned in the business community, where executives are reclaiming responsibility for mission critical informatics decisions.