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Information Technology and Medical Missteps: Evidence from a Randomized Trial

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Author Info
Jonathan C. Javitt
James B. Rebitzer
Lonny Reisman

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Abstract

We analyze the effect of a decision support tool designed to help physicians detect and correct medical "missteps". The data comes from a randomized trial of the technology on a population of commercial HMO patients. The key findings are that the new information technology lowers average charges by 6% relative to the control group. This reduction in resource utilization was the result of reduced in-patient charges (and associated professional charges) for the most costly patients. The rate at which identified issues were resolved was generally higher in the study group than in the control group, suggesting the possibility of improvements in care quality along measured dimensions and enhanced diffusion of new protocols based on new clinical evidence.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 13493.

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Date of creation: Oct 2007
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13493

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I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Production

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Jonathan Skinner & Douglas Staiger, 2005. "Technology Adoption From Hybrid Corn to Beta Blockers," NBER Working Papers 11251, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Ann P. Bartel & Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn L. Shaw, 2005. "How Does Information Technology Really Affect Productivity? Plant-Level Comparisons of Product Innovation, Process Improvement and Worker Skills," NBER Working Papers 11773, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Susan Athey & Scott Stern, 2000. "The Impact of Information Technology on Emergency Health Care Outcomes," NBER Working Papers 7887, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. David Autor & Frank Levy & Richard Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Jonathan Skinner & Elliott Fisher & John E. Wennberg, 2001. "The Efficiency of Medicare," NBER Working Papers 8395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Martin Gaynor & James Rebitzer & Lowell Taylor, . "Incentives in HMOs," GSIA Working Papers 2003-E21, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Richard G. Frank, 2004. "Behavioral Economics and Health Economics," NBER Working Papers 10881, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Casey Ichniowski & Kathryn Shaw, 2003. "Beyond Incentive Pay: Insiders' Estimates of the Value of Complementary Human Resource Management Practices," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 155-180, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2002. "Upstairs, downstairs: Computers and skills on two floors of a large bank," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 55(3), pages 432-447, April.
  10. Susan Athey & Scott Stern, 2002. "The Impact of Information Technology on Emergency Health Care Outcomes," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(3), pages 399-432, Autumn.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Randall D. Cebul & James B. Rebitzer & Lowell J. Taylor & Mark Votruba, 2008. "Organizational Fragmentation and Care Quality in the U.S. Health Care System," NBER Working Papers 14212, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. James B. Rebitzer & Mari Rege & Christopher Shepard, 2008. "Influence, Information Overload, and Information Technology in Health Care," NBER Working Papers 14159, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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This page was last updated on 2008-11-16.

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