Health Information Technology Home

Health information technology (Health IT) allows comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers. Broad use of health IT will:

• Improve health care quality;
• Prevent medical errors;
• Reduce health care costs;
• Increase administrative efficiencies;
• Decrease paperwork; and
• Expand access to affordable care.

Interoperable health IT will improve individual patient care, but it will also bring many public health benefits including:

• Early detection of infectious disease outbreaks around the country;
• Improved tracking of chronic disease management; and
• Evaluation of health care based on value enabled by the collection of de-identified price and quality information that can be compared.

Making Health Information Technology Personal

Health information technologies can be tools that help individuals maintain their health through better management of their health information. Health IT will help consumers gather all of their health information in one place so they can thoroughly understand it and share it securely with their health care providers so they get the care that best fits their individual needs.

Health IT can help to improve public health one individual at a time by building partnerships between health care consumers and providers across the country.