The Impact of Health Information Technology on the Quality of Medical and Health Care: A Systematic Review (Report‪)‬

Medical and health care systems, both in Australia and internationally, are dynamic and under pressure. As the community demand for quality health care services is increasing, along with the cost of providing these services, burgeoning attention is being directed towards the potential of health information technology (HIT) to lower health care spending and to improve the efficiency, quality and safety of medical care. The delivery of safe and effective healthcare remains an ongoing challenge to clinicians, particularly as increased attention is being focused on the extent of medical error (Bates, Leape & Callen 1998). Over the past few decades, the aim of many health care systems to improve consistency and safety in patient care has prompted considerable investment in the development of evidence-based clinical guidelines (Nagykaldi & Mold 2007). However, the effective dissemination of these guidelines has remained a challenging task, and HIT has been proposed as an effective means to implement guidelines in practice (Burstin 2008).