Megatrends in hospital information systems

The "megatrends" identified for hospital information system in this article require an innovative shift in hospital management perspective. Hospital chief executive officers and decision-makers must adopt a new model for planning and utilizing hospital information systems resources. Because of changes in the healthcare environment, prospective payment strategies for using information are very different from former retrospective reimbursement methods. The purpose of this article has been to identify emerging "megatrends" for structuring future hospital information systems. The primary causes of these significantly different demands is the prospective payment system. Medicare DRGs will probably expand into an all-encompassing payment plan which will alter the essence of hospital information systems. This article has reviewed the challenges of these "megatrends," and provided some preliminary management strategies for addressing these new demands on healthcare professionals.