Summary
Objectives:
Hospital information systems are evolving towards health information systems. This article aims at identifying both proven benefits and critical issues, and at discussing problems and possible solutions.
Methods:
Reports on HIS successes and failures were analyzed, and core challenges were identified. These challenges are discussed against state of the art solutions.
Results:
In spite of demonstrated benefits, there are more severe problems than reports on successes suggest. Among today’s core problems are integration, human-computer interaction, socio-technical issues, and support of processes.
Conclusions:
Significant efforts of all parties involved in the health care process are needed to improve, implement, and evaluate the concepts described.
Keywords
Hospital Information Systems - Information Systems