What Is the Goal of Health IT Technologies?
The goal of these tools is to deliver the right information at the right time to the right people, and to support processes that promote safe, effective, and more affordable care through adherence to evidenced-based practice guidelines, monitoring and surveillance, medication error reduction, and decreased rates of redundant or inappropriate care delivery.

What Is the Goal of Health IT Tools?
The goal of these tools is to deliver the right information at the right time to the right people, and to support processes that promote safe, effective, and more affordable care through adherence to evidenced-based practice guidelines, monitoring and surveillance, medication error reduction, and decreased rates of redundant or inappropriate care delivery.

Clinical Decision Support (CDS)
Clinical decision support (CDS) provides clinicians, staff, patients or other individuals with knowledge and person-specific information, intelligently filtered or presented at appropriate times, to enhance health and health care. CDS encompasses computerized alerts and reminders to care providers and patients, clinical guidelines, condition-focused order sets, patient data reports and summaries, documentation templates, diagnostic support, and other tools that enhance decision making in clinical workflow. more...

Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
An EMR (electronic medical record) is a real-time patient health record with access to evidence-based decision support tools that can be used to aid clinicians in decisionmaking. The EMR can automate and streamline a clinician's workflow, ensuring that all clinical information is communicated. It can also prevent delays in response that result in gaps in care. The EMR can also support the collection of data for uses other than clinical care, such as billing, quality management, outcome reporting, and public health disease surveillance and reporting.
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Electronic Prescribing (AKA: e-prescribing, eRx)
The adoption and effective utilization of eRx has been identified as a significant enabler to better, safer and more cost effective health care. The Institute of Medicine (1999) noted that each year seven thousand people die, and 1.5 million are injured from preventable medication errors. The current requirement by 2010, is that all prescribers and all pharmacies should be able to receive prescriptions electronically. eRx applications should include safety checks for allergies, drug-drug interaction warning, dose appropriateness, drug-clinical condition warning, and drug-laboratory alerts.
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Personal Health Record (PHR)
A personal health record or PHR is typically a health record that is initiated and maintained by an individual. An ideal PHR would provide a complete and accurate summary of the health and medical history of an individual by gathering data from many sources and making this information accessible online to anyone who has the necessary electronic credentials to view the information. Individuals can become more engaged in their own healthcare as they move from being passive recipients to active participants in their personal health management.
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Remote Monitoring
Remote monitoring is the electronic transmission of health care data either entered directly by a patient (or his/her caregiver) or through a medical device to a clinician’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) or a patient’s Personal Health Record (PHR). The ability for a clinician to monitor patient information captured remotely in an ambulatory setting, can allow management of chronic health problems and initial management of new conditions. Remote monitoring could include, communication of: physiologic measurements, diagnostic measurements, medication tracking device information, and activities of daily living measurements .
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Secure Messaging
Secure messaging is the secure and protected transmission of information between patients and their providers, including clinicians and their support staff. This messaging is similar to traditional email where both patients and clinicians can send and respond to communications without having to be on-line at the same time. Giving patients the ability to compose and send a secure communication to a clinician will, at times, give them access to their clinicians in a more timely, efficient manner than an office visit or a phone call.
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Telehealth
Telehealth is the use of telecommunications technologies to deliver health-related services and information that support patient care, administrative activates and health education. The technology is a means to improve access to care, while reducing cost of transportation and increasing convenience to patients care. There are more than 200 telehealth networks connecting some 2,000 institutions across the country. Telehealth is an expansion of telemedicine, and unlike telemedicine (which more narrowly focuses on the curative aspect) it encompasses preventive, promotive and curative aspects.
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