ABSTRACT
An important U.S. healthcare policy issue is health information technology (HIT) adoption. This issue has grown in importance in the past decade as many health organizations still have paper-based records when they could benefit from having and using electronic records. Electronic medical records, a fundamental component of HIT in health organizations, are said to improve efficiency and effectiveness by deriving higher quality of care while reducing costs. The government has provided funding to healthcare organizations and health providers as incentives for HIT implementation, training, and projects. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and healthcare reform policies in the late 1990s and early 2000s
have brought the issue of national HIT implementation into the forefront.
