There is widespread agreement that greater investment in information technology (IT) is critical to reforming U.S. health care. The use of such technologies as electronic health record systems, personal health records, e-prescribing, and computerized physician order entry holds the potential for vastly improving care at a reasonable cost. The recently enacted economic stimulus legislation included just over $19 billion for health information technology, so major public and private investments in the sector now lie ahead.

At this crucial moment, Health Affairs devoted its March-April 2009 issue to health IT—its transformative promise, but also the challenges to its adoption and the substantial dangers it could pose if that adoption is not done right. The issue was released at a briefing on Tuesday, March 10, at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C. At the briefing, speakers discussed the public policy issues surrounding health IT, particularly those raised by the health IT provisions in the stimulus package. Speakers also discussed pioneering health IT initiatives, the privacy concerns raised by health IT, and industry health IT innovations.

The briefing and the new Health Affairs issue were supported by grants from the Markle Foundation, the California HealthCare Foundation, and the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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 Health IT and Privacy Concerns