Costs and Financing

AHRQ. Using Telehealth to Improve Quality and Safety. December 2008. This report examines the potential for telehealth to improve quality of care and decrease health care spending

Christensen, Michael, Information and Communications Technology in U.S. Health Care: Why Is Adoption So Slow and Is Slower Better? Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law , 34:61011-1034, Dec 2009. This paper addresses the policy issues related to implementation of information and communication technology, including many different barriers to adopting new health IT. Ultimately they focus on the benefits of a slower transition.

Evidence on the Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology. Congress of the United States, Congressional Budget Office, May 2008.  This report looks at the potential of EMRs and EHRs in the healthcare setting, and addresses the challenges and opportunities for health IT implementation across the United States.

Miller, Robert. The Value Of Electronic Health Records In Community Health Centers: Policy Implications. Health Affairs. 26, no. 1 (2007): 206-214 This report looks at the cost-benefit analysis of EHRs in community health centers where the majority of patients are disadvantaged. The use of EHRs in this setting are distinct from those of the private practice setting, as was their likelihood to impact quality or cost.

Orszag, Peter and Ezekiel Emanuel, 2010. “Health Care Reform and Cost Control”  New England Journal of Medicine 363:601-6503.  This piece examines the costs of implementing health reform and new health IT initiatives.

Implementation and the Delivery System

Anderson, J.G. October 23, 2006. Social, Ethical and Legal Barriers to E-Health. International Journal of Medical Informatics Epub.This study examines the use of electronic medical records and electronic prescribing as tools in various health care systems worldwide. It investigates the status of information technology in health care, and the perceived benefits and barriers by primary care physicians.

DesRoches CM, EG Campbell, SR Rao, et al. June 2008.  Electronic Health Records in Ambulatory Care- A National Survey of Physicians. New England Journal of Medicine.
This study assesses physicians' adoption of outpatient electronic health records, their satisfaction with such systems, the perceived effect of the systems on the quality of care and the perceived barriers to adoption.

Etheredge, L., A Rapid-Learning Health System . Health Affairs Web Exclusive 26(2),Jan 2007.This issue features a series of articles on the use of electronic health record databases and other health information technology.

Hartzbard P, 2008. “Off the record- avoiding the pitfalls of going electronic” New England Journal of Medicine.258:1656-1659. This piece examines the potential problems with adopting electronic records in health settings.

Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, Realizing the Transformative Potential of Personal Health Records. April 2007.This issue brief explores the potential of personal health records to transform the way care is delivered and received.  It examines the definitions of PHRs, the variety of existing PHR technologies and their potential.

Liang, Louise. Connected for Health: Using Electronic Health Records to Transform Care Delivery , Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2010. This book focuses on Kaiser Permanente’s $4 billion investment in an electronic health record system over a 10 year periodand the insights learned thus far.

Mathematica Policy Research Inc., Issue Brief: Personal Health Records: What do Underserved Consumers Want? May 2007.This issue brief describes features of existing publicly available PHRs and assesses whether these features match the needs and preferences of underserved individuals.

National Quality Forum, Privacy: From Barrier to Enabler of Health Information Technology (HIT), Feb 2010.This issue brief examines the concerns of privacy with new health IT and the potential of overcoming this barrier of trust with the American people.

Steinbrook R, April 2008.  Personally Controlled Online Health Data– The Next Big Thing in Medical Care?  New England Journal of Medicine 358(16):1653-56.
This perspective piece describes online repositories for personal health data and discusses various companies' ventures to expand health information technology.

HITECH and Health Reform

Blumenthal, D. 2010. "Launching HITECH" New England Journal of Medicine 362(5):382-385. This article outlines the provisions and purpose of the HITECH Act of 2009.

Blumenthal, D. et al 2010 “The ‘Meaningful Use’ Regulation for Electronic Health Records” New England Journal of Medicine, 363:501-504. This paper explores the purpose and significance of the “meaningful use “ criteria established for adoption of EHRs.

Clancy, C. 2009. “Investing in Health Information Infrastructure: Can It Help Achieve Health Reform?” Health Affairs 28;2:478-482. This article looks at the short and long-term effects of harnessing health IT for providing high-quality health care.

Maxson E, et al, 2010. “Beacon Communities Aim to Use Health Information Technology to Transform the Delivery of Care”  Health Affairs 29;9:1671-1677This paper explores the program the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act established to study the implementation of health IT and meaningful use in select communities across the United States.

Steinbrook, R. March 2009. "Health Care and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" New England Journal of Medicine 360(11):1057-1060This discusses the potential impact of the bill’s investment in new health IT.