title: Metcalfe's law predicts reduced power of Electronic Medical Record software.
abstract: Error reduction, quality improvement and lowering of cost can all be achieved through electronic integration of health care providers. Despite the existence of clinical computing software for decades, meaningful linkage between health care providers has not occurred. We hypothesize that a major reason is reduction in network value through incompatible clinical software among hundreds of health care entities.
authors.affiliation: Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies, Houston Veterans Affairs Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Valdes
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kibbe
authors.forename: Greg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tolleson
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunik
authors.forename: Laura A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001292:Attitude to Computers; D003625:Data Collection; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D008875:Middle Aged; D012955:Societies, Medical; D018511:Systems Integration; D014481:United States