Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications in Child Health (Health ...

Chapter 1
Snapshots of Child Health
and Information Technology
George R. Kim
“In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever
that knowledge is power”
– John F. Kennedy
Health care is in “a time of turbulence and change.” One characteristic of this
time is the growing awareness by the public, government and health care industry
that the safety, cost-effectiveness and outcomes of US medical care can and must
improve. Another is the overwhelming belief by policy-makers, health experts and
patients that technology will help bring about improvements and savings through
better control and accounting of health care processes and information.
For pediatricians and the families for whom they provide care, this time creates
new challenges. Children, especially those with special health care needs,
encounter barriers to timely appropriate care and are at high risk for harms from
medical errors, and there is growing concern among pediatric providers that current
health information technologies (health IT), designed for adults, do not meet
pediatric needs and may in fact create new vulnerabilities and risks to child health
and safety.
For pediatricians, these challenges present opportunities to:
Bring expertise in child health to technology developers to create information
tools and standards that will make pediatric practice safer, more efficient and
that will optimize and strengthen the value of pediatric care.
Share evidence and experience on successful strategies for adopting health
IT into pediatric workflows that minimize risk to patients and maximize
benefits to all.
1.1 Organization of the Book
This book presents medical, technical, organizational, and economic perspectives
on information technology in child health, drawing on shared expertise
from general and specialty pediatrics, health care leadership, pediatric nursing,
C.U. Lehmann et al. (eds.), Pediatric Informatics: Computer Applications 3
in Child Health, Health Informatics,
© Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2009