Deconstructing the Health IT Adoption Paradox

1. Introduction The past decade has been characterized by significant optimism about the the role of health IT in improving quality and lowering costs. In 2004, the Bush administration set a goal for most Americans to have their health information stored in an electronic medical by 2014. Health IT also occupies a central place in the Obama administration's health reform efforts. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocates $19.5 billion for investment in Health IT. The government of the United States plans to computerize all health records within five years; at an estimated cost of between $75 to $100 billion (CNN, Jan 12 2009). Recently, the Brookings Institute published an influential report targeting at " bending the curve " of healthcare cost, and Health IT is listed as the first recommendation to achieve this goal (Antos et al, 2009).