Health information systems 2025

The next generation of health IT is poised to both evolve from the present and be quite different. We are in the early stages of an inevitable and much to be desired transition from a siloized, fragmented health care "non-system" to a more articulated, comprehensive health system. Information technology is both an enabler of the goals of this new system and a forcing function creating the technology imperative that is itself a driver. In this chapter we pull together many of the aspects of health and health care and the IT system to support them that have been discussed throughout this book. Our discussion will focus on eleven disruptive factors that together are creating a sort of "perfect storm" that will make the health system of 10 years from now quite different from, although derived from and combining significant parts of, our current system. The disruptive forces variously have scientific, technology, policy, regulation/standards, or social/cultural origins, but all have significant IT architecture and function implications. The mantra going forward can be summed up by three words: integration, interoperability, and innovation. As we continue to move ahead in the disparate developments and innovations of this field, there will be increasing emphasis on aligning our efforts, making them interoperable, and creating a more integrated ecosystem aimed at optimizing health.