Emerging Trends in Health Information Technology

Health care administrators must be able to see into the future, or at least make educated guesses, particularly when it comes to anticipating the strategic value and practical impact of health information technology. For this final Discussion, you will explore technological innovations in an area of health care of particular interest to you.

Prepare for this Discussion as follows:

• Review the information presented in the Learning Resources this week and throughout the course on technological innovations that may influence the growth over the next five or so years of health information technology.
• Select a significant trend in an area of health care of interest to you, and focus on one or two technological innovations that illustrate this trend. For example, you might wish to examine the trend toward greater productivity, and select a particular application for improving physician productivity.
• Conduct a literature search to learn more about this trend and innovative technology related to it. What are the factors driving, or limiting, this trend?
• Determine the pros and cons of the innovative technology from the perspective of the primary users or stakeholders.
• Consider the challenges this innovation will pose to managers, and how they can best anticipate and manage its ramifications. Be sure to incorporate in your thinking the various principles on IT design and management that you have learned throughout this course, as well as any articles and Web sites you located this week.