scholarly journals A Survey of the Literature on Unintended Consequences Associated with Health Information Technology: 2014–2015

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Abraham ◽  
L. L. Novak ◽  
T. L. Reynolds ◽  
A. Gettinger ◽  
K. Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Time Series ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Health It ◽  
Recorded Data ◽  
The Impact

SummaryObjective: To summarize recent research on unintended consequences associated with implementation and use of health information technology (health IT). Included in the review are original empirical investigations published in English between 2014 and 2015 that reported unintended effects introduced by adoption of digital interventions. Our analysis focuses on the trends of this steam of research, areas in which unintended consequences have continued to be reported, and common themes that emerge from the findings of these studies.Method: Most of the papers reviewed were retrieved by searching three literature databases: MEDLINE, Embase, and CINAHL. Two rounds of searches were performed: the first round used more restrictive search terms specific to unintended consequences; the second round lifted the restrictions to include more generic health IT evaluation studies. Each paper was independently screened by at least two authors; differences were resolved through consensus development.Results: The literature search identified 1,538 papers that were potentially relevant; 34 were deemed meeting our inclusion criteria after screening. Studies described in these 34 papers took place in a wide variety of care areas from emergency departments to ophthalmology clinics. Some papers reflected several previously unreported unintended consequences, such as staff attrition and patients’ withholding of information due to privacy and security concerns. A majority of these studies (71%) were quantitative investigations based on analysis of objectively recorded data. Several of them employed longitudinal or time series designs to distinguish between unintended consequences that had only transient impact, versus those that had persisting impact. Most of these unintended consequences resulted in adverse outcomes, even though instances of beneficial impact were also noted. While care areas covered were heterogeneous, over half of the studies were conducted at academic medical centers or teaching hospitals. Conclusion: Recent studies published in the past two years represent significant advancement of unintended consequences research by seeking to include more types of health IT applications and to quantify the impact using objectively recorded data and longitudinal or time series designs. However, more mixed-methods studies are needed to develop deeper insights into the observed unintended adverse outcomes, including their root causes and remedies. We also encourage future research to go beyond the paradigm of simply describing unintended consequences, and to develop and test solutions that can prevent or minimize their impact.

scholarly journals Troubled Waters: Navigating Unintended Consequences of Health Information Technology

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 5-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. U. Lehmann ◽  
B. Séroussi ◽  
M.-C. Jaulent
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Editorial Team ◽  
Special Topic ◽  
Health It ◽  
Great Expectations ◽  
Many Sources

SummaryObjectives: To provide an introduction to the 2016 IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics by the editors.Methods: We present a brief overview of the 2016 special topic “Unintended consequences of Health IT: new problems, new solutions”, we review our choice of special topic section editors, and discuss the transitions in the editorial team for next year.Results: This edition of the Yearbook acknowledges the fact that implementation and use of Health Information Technology (HIT) may result in unintended consequences, which may lead to both adverse and sometimes beneficial outcomes. However to date, in the literature, undesired outcomes are emphasized with a focus on the complex causes and the many sources that may generate them. The growing awareness of the importance of HIT’s unintended consequences and their increasing documentation reflect a wider acceptance of HIT by users (more use generating more consequences) and and a new type of users (a shift from early adopters to late adopters and laggards), whith great expectations regarding the improvement of care quality through HIT solutions. Different points of view on new problems and new solutions of unintended consequences of Health IT are presented through the keynote paper, survey papers, and the working group contributions.Conclusions: The regular 2016 issue of the IMIA yearbook focuses on new unintended consequences of Health IT – brought on by wider adoption and different types of users as well as solutions to addressing them.

scholarly journals The impact of health information technology on cancer care across the continuum: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 420-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Will L Tarver ◽  
Nir Menachemi
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Cancer Care ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Introduction Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to play a significant role in the management of cancer. The purpose of this review is to identify and examine empirical studies that investigate the impact of HIT in cancer care on different levels of the care continuum. Methods Electronic searches were performed in four academic databases. The authors used a three-step search process to identify 122 studies that met specific inclusion criteria. Next, a coding sheet was used to extract information from each included article to use in an analysis. Logistic regression was used to determine study-specific characteristics that were associated with positive findings. Results Overall, 72.4% of published analyses reported a beneficial effect of HIT. Multivariate analysis found that the impact of HIT differs across the cancer continuum with studies targeting diagnosis and treatment being, respectively, 77 ( P  = .001) and 39 ( P  = .039) percentage points less likely to report a beneficial effect when compared to those targeting prevention. In addition, studies targeting HIT to patients were 31 percentage points less likely to find a beneficial effect than those targeting providers ( P  = .030). Lastly, studies assessing behavior change as an outcome were 41 percentage points less likely to find a beneficial effect ( P  = .006), while studies targeting decision making were 27 percentage points more likely to find a beneficial effect ( P  = .034). Conclusion Based on current evidence, HIT interventions seem to be more successful when targeting physicians, care in the prevention phase of the cancer continuum, and/or decision making. An agenda for future research is discussed.

scholarly journals The impact of health information technology on the management and follow-up of test results – a systematic review

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 678-688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Georgiou ◽  
Julie Li ◽  
Judith Thomas ◽  
Maria R Dahm ◽  
Johanna I Westbrook
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Health It ◽  
Point Change ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Results Management ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objective To investigate the impact of health information technology (IT) systems on clinicians’ work practices and patient engagement in the management and follow-up of test results. Materials and Methods A search for studies reporting health IT systems and clinician test results management was conducted in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, and Scopus from January 1999 to June 2018. Test results follow-up was defined as provider follow-up of results for tests that were sent to the laboratory and radiology services for processing or analysis. Results There are some findings from controlled studies showing that health IT can improve the proportion of tests followed-up (15 percentage point change) and increase physician awareness of test results that require action (24–28 percentage point change). Taken as whole, however, the evidence of the impact of health IT on test result management and follow-up is not strong. Discussion The development of safe and effective test results management IT systems should pivot on several axes. These axes include 1) patient-centerd engagement (involving shared, timely, and meaningful information); 2) diagnostic processes (that involve the integration of multiple people and different clinical settings across the health care spectrum); and 3) organizational communications (the myriad of multi- transactional processes requiring feedback, iteration, and confirmation) that contribute to the patient care process. Conclusion Existing evidence indicates that health IT in and of itself does not (and most likely cannot) provide a complete solution to issues related to test results management and follow-up.

scholarly journals Human Factors for More Usable and Safer Health Information Technology: Where Are We Now and Where do We Go from Here?

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 120-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Nohr ◽  
E. Borycki ◽  
A. Kushniruk
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
System Development ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Health It ◽  
Healthcare Settings ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Wide Range

SummaryA wide range of human factors approaches have been developed and adapted to healthcare for detecting and mitigating negative unexpected consequences associated with technology in healthcare (i.e. technology-induced errors). However, greater knowledge and wider dissemination of human factors methods is needed to ensure more usable and safer health information technology (IT) systems. Objective: This paper reports on work done by the IMIA Human Factors Working Group and discusses some successful approaches that have been applied in using human factors to mitigate negative unintended consequences of health IT. The paper addresses challenges in bringing human factors approaches into mainstream health IT development. Results: A framework for bringing human factors into the improvement of health IT is described that involves a multi-layered systematic approach to detecting technology-induced errors at all stages of a IT system development life cycle (SDLC). Such an approach has been shown to be needed and can lead to reduced risks associated with the release of health IT systems into live use with mitigation of risks of negative unintended consequences. Conclusion: Negative unintended consequences of the introduction of IT into healthcare (i.e. potential for technology-induced errors) continue to be reported. It is concluded that methods and approaches from the human factors and usability engineering literatures need to be more widely applied, both in the vendor community and in local and regional hospital and healthcare settings. This will require greater efforts at dissemination and knowledge translation, as well as greater interaction between the academic and vendor communities.

scholarly journals The Unintended Consequences of Health Information Technology Revisited

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 163-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ash ◽  
M. Berg ◽  
E. Coiera
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Health Care Service ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Health Information Technologies ◽  
The Impact

Summary Introduction: The introduction of health information technology into clinical settings is associated with unintended negative consequences, some with the potential to lead to error and patient harm. As adoption rates soar, the impact of these hazards will increase. Objective: Over the last decade, unintended consequences have received great attention in the medical informatics literature, and this paper seeks to identify the major themes that have emerged. Results: Rich typologies of the causes of unintended consequences have been developed, along with a number of explanatory frameworks based on socio-technical systems theory. We however still have only limited data on the frequency and impact of these events, as most studies rely on data sets from incident reporting or patient chart reviews, rather than undertaking detailed observational studies. Such data are increasingly needed as more organizations implement health information technologies. When outcome studies have been done in different organizations, they reveal different outcomes for identical systems. From a theoretical perspective, recent advances in the emerging discipline of implementation science have much to offer in explaining the origin, and variability, of unintended consequences. Conclusion: The dynamic nature of health care service organizations, and the rapid development and adoption of health information technologies means that unintended consequences are unlikely to disappear, and we therefore must commit to developing robust systems to detect and manage them.

scholarly journals Health Informatics in Developing Countries: A Review of Unintended Consequences of IT Implementations, as They Affect Patient Safety and Recommendations on How to Address Them

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (01) ◽  
pp. 70-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Almerares ◽  
D. Luna ◽  
A. Marcelo ◽  
M. Househ ◽  
H. Mandirola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Patient Safety ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Healthcare Organization ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Alert Fatigue ◽  
Available Information

SummaryBackground: Patient safety concerns every healthcare organization. Adoption of Health information technology (HIT) appears to have the potential to address this issue, however unanticipated and undesirable consequences from implementing HIT could lead to new and more complex hazards. This could be particularly problematic in developing countries, where regulations, policies and implementations are few, less standandarized and in some cases almost non-existing.Methods: Based on the available information and our own experience, we conducted a review of unintended consequences of HIT implementations, as they affect patient safety in developing countries.Results: We found that user dependency on the system, alert fatigue, less communications among healthcare actors and workarounds topics should be prioritize. Institution should consider existing knowledge, learn from other experiences and model their implementations to avoid known consequences. We also recommend that they monitor and communicate their own efforts to expand knowledge in the region.

Analyzing the Role of Health Information Technology in Global Health Care

2017 ◽  
pp. 694-714
Author(s):  
Kijpokin Kasemsap
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health It ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Global Health Care

This chapter explains the perspectives on global health, the overview of health information technology (health IT), the applications of electronic health record (EHR), and the importance of health IT in global health care. Health IT is the area of IT involving the design, development, creation, utilization, and maintenance of information systems for the health care industry. Health IT makes it possible for health care providers to better manage patient care through the secure use and sharing of health information. Effective health IT can lower costs, improve efficiency, and reduce medical error, while providing better patient care and service. The chapter argues that utilizing health IT has the potential to enhance health care performance and reach strategic goals in global health care.

Analyzing the Role of Health Information Technology in Global Health Care

2017 ◽  
pp. 287-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kijpokin Kasemsap
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Health Information Technology ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health It ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Global Health Care

This chapter explains the perspectives on global health, the overview of health information technology (health IT), the applications of electronic health record (EHR), and the importance of health IT in global health care. Health IT is the area of IT involving the design, development, creation, utilization, and maintenance of information systems for the health care industry. Health IT makes it possible for health care providers to better manage patient care through the secure use and sharing of health information. Effective health IT can lower costs, improve efficiency, and reduce medical error, while providing better patient care and service. The chapter argues that utilizing health IT has the potential to enhance health care performance and reach strategic goals in global health care.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document