Health Information Technology (Health IT) (HIT)

Health IT (HIT) - Health information technology (HIT) is the area of IT involving the design, development, creation, use and maintenance of information systems for the healthcare industry. Automated and interoperable healthcare information systems are expected to lower costs, improve efficiency and reduce error, while also providing better consumer care and service.

The electronic health record (EHR) is the central component of the health IT infrastructure. An EHR is an individual's official, digital health record and is shared among multiple facilities and agencies. The other essential elements of the HIT infrastructure are the electronic medical record (EMR), which is an individual's health record within a healthcare provider's facility; the personal health record (PHR), which is an individual's self-maintained health record; and a Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO), which oversees communications among the other elements and unifies them geographically.

Related glossary terms: Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC), Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN), Amalga, health information exchange (HIE), Federal Health Information Exchange (FHIE), RxNorm, ONC - Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI), HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society), Clinical Data Repository/Health Data Repository (CHDR)

[Category=Data Management ]

Source: WhatIs.com, 13 August 2013 10:46:56, http://whatis.techtarget.com/glossary/Data-and-Data-Management