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Health IT: Assessing the Use of Information Technology in Health Care
Information technology holds potential for transforming health care delivery in important ways. Mathematica is at the forefront of examining how technology is applied to promote improvement in the health care system and control costs. At a time when the federal government is investing up to $19.2 billion to provide certified electronic health records for each person in the United States by 2014, Mathematica is uniquely positioned to support the development and evaluation of the nation’s nascent health information technology (IT) policies.
Information technology has the potential to improve quality in personal health management, health care delivery, and public health. Mathematica is currently conducting a variety of projects tackling broad-based policy issues, health IT program assessment and how technology applications contribute to improve quality of care and lessen administrative costs.
- How can we best inform public policy regarding the impacts of using information technology in health care?
- How can we effectively evaluate the impact of health information technology?
- Are there possibilities for health information technology to affect individual consumers?
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How can we best inform public policy regarding the impacts of using information technology in health care? |
Mathematica is at the forefront of evaluating the ways in which public policy can influence clinical and consumer use of information technology in health care, particularly in the wake of the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.
Related projects:
- Global Assessment of the Value of Health Information Technology and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) Programs
- Establishing Federal Resources to Support the Patient-Centered Medical Home Concept
Related publication:
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How can we effectively evaluate the impact of health information technology? |
To effectively evaluate the impact of HIT, we need to begin by addressing some key questions. Do incentives for adoption of electronic health records result in lower costs for consumers? Does use of electronic health records improve quality of care? Mathematica tackles these issues through testing specific legislation to incentivize electronic health record use through a variety of innovative evaluation designs.
Related projects:
- Evaluation of the Electronic Health Record Demonstration
- Evaluation of the Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration
- "Toward Understanding EHR Use in Small Physician Practices." Health Care Financing Review, (fall 2009)
- "Health Information Exchange: The Role of Safety-Net Providers." Trends in Health Informatics, Issue Brief #5 (June 2009)
- "Using Payment Incentives to Improve Care for the Chronically Ill in Medicare: First Year Implementation of the Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration (MCMP)" (March 2009)
- "New Hospital Information Technology: Is It Helping to Improve Quality?" (May 2006)
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Are there possibilities for health information technology to affect individual consumers? |
Health IT can be used both at the clinical and at the consumer level. Certain types of technology, such as telemedicine, can be used to bring health care to under-resourced communities within the U.S. Mathematica is playing a crucial role in the evaluation and learning process regarding this aspect of health IT, which has the potential to improve access to care for people with limited mobility. Although the adoption of personal health records has the potential to greatly benefit consumers, different groups have concerns regarding this type of technological advancement. Mathematica has conducted studies to hear from a variety of audiences what their main concerns are regarding personal health records to help different communities overcome specific barriers.
Related projects:
- Evaluation of the Informatics, Telemedicine, and Education Demonstration
- Evaluation of Medicare Personal Health Records Choice Pilot
- Patient Perception of the Delivery of Health Care Through the Use of an Electronic Health Record
Related publications:
- "Costs to Medicare of the IDEATel Home Telemedicine Demonstration: Findings from an Independent Evaluation" Diabetes Care (July 2009)
- "Personal Health Records: What Do Underserved Consumers Want?"Trends in Health Informatics, Issue Brief #4 (May 2007)
- "Considerations in Designing Personal Health Records for Underserved Populations"Trends in Health Care Disparities, Issue Brief #1 (April 2007)