Information Technology in Health Care: Socio-Technical Approaches 2010

Ten years ago, two landmark reports were published by the Institute of Medicine on human error in medicine and the quality chasm. It seems appropriate then, that the fourth international conference Information Technology in Health Care, should re-visit these themes now to examine how safer systems can be designed and implemented to improve patient safety. This book presents the proceedings of that conference. Many policies and programs have been initiated internationally to stimulate the use of electronic health care and record systems. Unfortunately, these do not always run smoothly. For example, a study of electronic prescribing systems in seven western countries showed that the uptake in hospitals was only 20%, and some studies have indicated that electronic systems may even introduce more errors instead of reducing them. Of the 28 submitted papers presented here, seven deal with patient safety, eight address various topics of system design, six cover the subject of implementation and four explore patient involvement. The remaining three papers cover the theme of the conference in a broader perspective. Offering insights into how improved design and implementation will advance patient safety, this book will be of interest to a wide range of professionals involved in all aspects of electronic health care.