의료정보기술은 환자안전을 향상시키는가?

Can Health Information Technology Really Improve Patient Safety?

Health information technology (HIT) is one of the most familiar tools to healthcare providers. It is used in routine practice to reduce cost, to improve clinical performance, and to improve patient safety. Patient safety is the driving force of recent expansion of HIT industry. But there are many evidences that it can be harmful to patient safety. Role of HIT and HIT-related error became big issues because more and more healthcare providers and healthcare organizations are willing to adopt it. Adoption rate of HIT in Korea is higher than that of United States. But researches of HIT regarding patient safety are rare. In this article, types of HIT, their mechanisms of improving patient safety and HIT-related errors were reviewed. Status of HIT in terms of patient safety in Korea was also reviewed. Knowledge of how HIT can improve patient safety, its' limitation, and how to make it safer is crucial to whom have to use it to improve patient safety. Impact of HIT on patient safety must be evaluated actively in Korea. HIT which was proven to improve patient safety must be widely adopted. Government must prepare a strategic plan to improve HIT quality, support hospitals financially and institutionally to introduce qualified HIT, and develop HIT infrastructures and standard designed for patient safety.