H.I.T. or Miss: The Effects of Healthcare Information Technology on Clinical Efficacy and Efficiency

Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), especially in the form of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), is touted as the future of medicine. Theoretical benefits include cost reductions, increased quality of care, and reduced... [ view full abstract ]

Healthcare Information Technology (HIT), especially in the form of Electronic Health Records (EHRs), is touted as the future of medicine. Theoretical benefits include cost reductions, increased quality of care, and reduced rates of medical errors. Yet limited literature exists on whether new systems are living up to the hype. In 2009 congress passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act that incentivized – and later mandated – the adoption of EHRs at most acute care facilities as well as in some outpatient settings. This legislation creates a useful natural experiment allowing for a diff-in-diff analysis of efficacy and efficiency outcomes pre- and post-rollout. Using data from state inpatient databases in Washington, Maryland, California, Kentucky, and Arizona between 2005 and 2014, the goal of this study is to parse out differential effects on four primary outcomes: total charges to patients, mortality rates, number of procedures/tests performed, and total length of stay. This has the potential to be one of the most comprehensive contemporary studies on EHRs and help answer the question of whether HIT is improving medical care in the U.S.