Hillol Bala

The health care sector, despite its importance, is still behind most other industries such as retail, manufacturing, and financial services to leverage IT for operational and strategic purposes. Effective development and successful implementation of IT systems are critical in health care as these systems have direct implications for patient safety, mortality, and better quality of life. Here, we discuss several potential drawbacks of current EMR systems and offer six key strategies for development and improvement based on a case study of one of the largest health care providers in the nation—the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).