The Effects of Information Technology Processes

One of the most significant challenges facing healthcare executives today is investing in clinical decision support systems (CDSS) that can accommodate diverse data and decision making needs of physicians and managers to accomplish their organization’s mission. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has brought billions of dollars in incentive funds for CDSS and other healthcare information technology. CDSS can help healthcare organizations automate inefficient processes, lower costs and improve patient care with better decision making. Risks however, are that pre-implementation and customization of CDSS can be costly and are difficult to measure return on investment. Furthermore, some studies have suggested that the promised benefits of these systems can be difficult to achieve. This book illustrates the linkages between CDSS and organizational performance. It includes a research methodology based on academic literature and presents findings from a study in the healthcare industry.