In addition to rationing money and services, the structure of contemporary health care forces the limitation of an intangible resource crucial to both physician and patient satisfaction, time spent on patient visits.

Investigators must determine whether patient consent forms for medical care include the provision that registries for patients with particular medical conditions may be made or electronic data searches may be performed.

Patients can use Internet sources to select physicians; physicians who use patient databases to select or reject patients, however, cross a professional-ethical boundary.

The addition of IT to our health care system should not be viewed as merely a technological upgrade, but rather a fundamental change in our approach to the practice of medicine.

Determining the severity of a breach of medical privacy, and therefore whether or not it will be reported to the US Department of Health and Human Services, by the patient's reaction puts the hospital's interest in avoiding reporting breaches above the patient's best interests.

Use of decision-support systems can improve quality of patient care in residency training programs if the resident physician users participate in the development and routine revision of those systems.

An overview of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, also known as the HITECH Act.

If it is to be ethical, the expenditure of public funds for EHR systems must have a favorable outcome for the public as a whole.

Health information technology, like prior technological advances in medicine, can improve patient care and enhance the patient-physician relationship if used properly and thoughtfully.

A definition of electronic health records and an overview of their history.