The last decade has seen the rapidly accelerating adoption of health information technology in the practice of medicine. Several federal initiatives and regulations have helped accelerate its implementation. A number of unintended consequences have resulted from this process and have had a profound impact on the practice of medicine. While many benefits have resulted from the utilization of health information technology in patient care as well as in business intelligence, the results have been mixed. The medical community is still adapting to the impact of health information technology. Health information technology holds considerable promise (which is yet to be fully utilized) in delivering high-quality safe care with the potential for cost savings, improving population health and the realization of operational efficiency. Despite the mixed results, considerable information has accumulated in our individual data systems. Collective knowledge is hampered by imperfect interoperability of this information. Disease registries and individual data warehouse initiatives have provided considerable insight in population health and hold the promise for the creation of a learning health care system. While the future is uncertain, it is likely that interoperability will be realized and the investment in technology will bear fruit.

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