Health information technology will shift the medical care paradigm

The current paradigm of medical care depends heavily on the autonomous and highly trained doctor to collect and process information necessary to care for each patient. This paradigm is challenged by the increasing requirements for knowledge by both patients and doctors; by the need to evaluate populations of patients inside and outside one's practice; by consistently unmet quality of care expectations; by the costliness of redundant, fragmented, and suboptimal care; and by a seemingly insurmountable demand for chronic disease care. Medical care refinements within the old paradigm may not solve these challenges, suggesting a shift to a new paradigm is needed. A new paradigm could be considerably more reliant on health information technology because that offers the best option for addressing our challenges and creating a foundation for future medical progress, although this process will be disruptive.