Full Citation

Title: The Impact of Healthcare IT on Clinical Quality, Productivity and Workers

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2021

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.1146/annurev

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Abstract: Adoption of health information and communication technologies ("HICT") has surged over the past two decades. We survey the medical and economic literature on HICT adoption and its impact on clinical outcomes, productivity and labor. We find that HICT improves clinical outcomes and lowers healthcare costs, but (i) the effects are modest so far, (ii) it takes time for these effects to materialize, and (iii) there is much variation in the impact. More evidence on the causal effects of HICT on productivity is needed to guide further adoption. There is little econometric work directly investigating the impact of HICT on labor, but what there is suggests no substantial negative effects on employment and earnings. Overall, while healthcare is "exceptional" in many ways, we are struck by the similarities to the wider findings on ICT and productivity stressing the importance of complementary factors (e.g. management and skills) in determining HICT impacts.

Url: http://www.nber.org/papers/w29218

User Submitted?: No

Authors: Bronsoler, Ari; Doyle Jr, Joseph J.; Van Reenen, John

Series Title: NBER Working Paper Series

Publication Number: 29218

Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research

Pages: 1-41

Publisher Location: Cambridge

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Population Health and Health Systems

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