Special Issue: Health Information Technology - Guest Editors: Michael F. Furukawa, PhD; and Eric Poon, MD, MPH

This is a comparative effectiveness study that evaluates the safety effects of 2 types of commercially available electronic prescribing systems.

Greater consumer participation in determining how HIE occurs could engender greater trust among all demographic groups, regardless of varying levels of privacy and security concerns.

Health information technology that is implemented as part of a multifaceted quality improvement initiative can lead to improvements in hypertension care and outcomes.

A qualitative process evaluation attributes the success of a technology-driven hypertension intervention to the combination of multiple intervention components framed as quality improvement.

Automated telephone reminders resulted in a small but significant increase in adherence to inhaled corticosteroids among adult asthma patients in a large managed care organization.

The authors discuss the wide-reaching impact of legislation spurring the adoption of health information technology and provide an overview of the content found in this special issue.

Broad enthusiasm exists among hospitals for participation in Meaningful Use. However, many hospitals have a long road ahead to implement the advanced systems required for the program.