This comprehensive report from the George Washington University Medical Center and the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, describes the rate and scope of adoption and use of health information technology (HIT), including electronic health records and health information exchanges, in the U.S. With the implementation of incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to hospitals, physicians and other eligible providers for the “meaningful use of certified electronic health records” beginning in January 2011, the report’s findings about the progress made in HIT adoption and use is particularly timely. The report also highlights the potential of health information technology to support health care quality improvement and describes the status of some of the ongoing measurement and other challenges in achieving that potential.
Ignatius Bau 