The Trillion Dollar Conundrum: Complementarities and Health Information Technology

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Dranove, David; Forman, Chris; Goldfarb, Avi; Greenstein, Shane
• 署名单位: Northwestern University; University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Toronto
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.6.4.239
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 239-270
• 关键词: productivity; care; diffusion; IMPACT; INNOVATION; computers; internet; benefits; QUALITY; record

摘要

We examine the heterogeneous relationship between the adoption of EMR and hospital operating costs at thousands of US hospitals between 1996 and 2009. We first document a previously-identified puzzle: Adoption of EMR is associated with a slight cost increase. Drawing on the literature on IT and productivity, we analyze why this average effect arises. We find that: (i) EMR adoption is initially associated with a rise in costs; (ii) EMR adoption at hospitals in IT-intensive locations leads to a decrease in costs after three years; and (iii) Hospitals in other locations experience an increase in costs even after six years.