PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alotaibi, Yasser K.
AU  - Federico, Frank
TI  - The impact of health information technology on patient safety
AID  - 10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631
DP  - 2017 Dec 01
TA  - Saudi Medical Journal
PG  - 1173--1180
VI  - 38
IP  - 12
4099  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/12/1173.short
4100  - http://smj.org.sa/content/38/12/1173.full
SO  - Saudi Med J2017 Dec 01; 38
AB  - Since the original Institute of Medicine (IOM) report was published there has been an accelerated development and adoption of health information technology with varying degrees of evidence about the impact of health information technology on patient safety. This article is intended to review the current available scientific evidence on the impact of different health information technologies on improving patient safety outcomes. We conclude that health information technology improves patient’s safety by reducing medication errors, reducing adverse drug reactions, and improving compliance to practice guidelines. There should be no doubt that health information technology is an important tool for improving healthcare quality and safety. Healthcare organizations need to be selective in which technology to invest in, as literature shows that some technologies have limited evidence in improving patient safety outcomes.