title: Measure of clinical information technology adoption.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to create a new measure for clinical information technology (IT) adoption as a proxy variable of clinical IT use.
  
  
  METHODS
  Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) data for 2004 were used. The 18 clinical IT applications were analyzed across 3,637 acute care hospitals in the United States. After factor analysis was conducted, the clinical IT adoption score was created and evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Basic clinical IT systems, such as laboratory, order communication/results, pharmacy, radiology, and surgery information systems had different adoption patterns from advanced IT systems, such as cardiology, radio picture archiving, and communication, as well as computerized practitioner order-entry. This clinical IT score varied across hospital characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different IT applications have different adoption patterns. In creating a measure of IT use among various IT components in hospitals, the characteristics of each type of system should be reflected. Aggregated IT adoption should be used to explain technology acquisition and utilization in hospitals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Jinhyung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young-Taek
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Park
keywords: Clinical Informatics; Health Information Technology; Medical Informatics; Medical Information Science