Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age

Plot

"Rothman and Blumenthal's compelling book, Medical Professionalism in the New Information Age, fills a current gap in the literature on the possible implications of information technology for practicing physicians, health care organizations, and the profession more generally, thereby advancing both policy analysis and clinical practice." ---Melissa Goldstein, George Washington University Medical CenterWith Computerized Health Information receiving unprecedented government support, a group of health policy scholars analyze the intricate legal, social, and professional implications of the new technology. Essays explore how Health Information Technology (HIT) may alter relationships between physicians and patients, physicians and other providers, and physicians and their home institutions. Patient use of web-based information may undermine physicians' traditional information monopoly and as case studies on kidney transplants and maternity practices reveal, patient uses of HIT may have unanticipated effects, positive and negative. An independent HIT profession may emerge, bringing another organized interest into the medical arena. Taken together, these investigations cast new light on the challenges and opportunities presented by HIT.