Health Information Technology (HIT): for the Government, Or for the Patient? (Essay‪)‬

Patient-physician interaction is the core element in medical care. All parts of the system should ideally be focused on improving that interaction. Therefore, the principal purpose of the medical record, electronic or otherwise, must be to contribute positively to the interaction. There is a general principle of computing that states that "computers should only be used where they can be shown to improve human performance." The recent medical literature in health information technology (HIT) has not shown this improvement. It has mostly been written by those with a vested interest in its adoption. These include chief information officers and those with an ownership interest in software and hardware companies. The unsurprising result is that HIT is hailed as a miracle drug. If only those pesky physicians would get with the program, all would be wonderful.