Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the “application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of lives”. This includes pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures, and organizational systems used in the healthcare industry, as well as computer-supported information systems. In the United States, these technologies involve standardized physical objects, as well as traditional and designed social means and methods to treat or care for patients.
To help promote and expand the adoption of health information technology, the HITECH act was passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. HITECH stands for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. It gave the department of health and human services the authority to improve healthcare quality and efficiency through the promotion of health IT. The act provided financial incentives or penalties to organizations to motivate healthcare providers to improve healthcare. The purpose of the act was to improve quality, safety, efficiency, and ultimately to reduce health disparities.
