| The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between the adoption of information technology by pediatric hospitals and performance on several quality of care measures. This research is aimed at addressing a gap in literature by utilizing a relatively large sample size that examines health information technology adoption across institutions and utilizes validated quality indicators from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Donabedian evaluation model that encompasses "structure, process, and outcomes" provides the conceptual framework for the organization of this research, selection of variables, and analysis. Three secondary datasets were used, 2005 Information Technology Survey of the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI); NACHRI hospital discharge data with pediatric quality indicators for the year 2006; and NACHRI adverse drug events dataset for the years 2006. Multiple linear regression and univariate analysis of variance was used to test the hypothesized relationships. It was found that there is not enough evidence to support the association between health information technology and specific quality of care indicators in pediatric hospitals. These results compel scholars to address the need for future research on the development of a standardized global measurement of HIT effectiveness on quality. Practitioners based upon these findings may want to take an approach that makes meaningful use of HIT applications for improvement of specific quality outcomes.;Keywords: health information technology, pediatric hospitals, quality, Donabedian model, adverse drug events, pediatric quality indicators. |
