To confront this array of threats, public health officials find themselves faced with the daunting task of adapting old disaster response policies to newly emerging dangers. After the events of September 11, 2001, the state of North Carolina began to realize that the old ways simply wouldn’t work.

If there is evidence for anything in the medico-legal research, it is that the tort system under-compensates the majority of patients and families who have experienced medical error (Brennan et al., 1991; Localio et al., 1991; Studdert et al., 2006).

Lou Pinella, the Cubs manager, is chomping on his unlit cigarette. It is the bottom of the ninth inning, and Fenway Park is a screaming madhouse.

If you introduce information technology (IT) into your organization, expect resistance. “We do not have time for this!” “It costs too much!” “We’re already doing a great job!” How many times have you heard statements like these? Perhaps, you have even said as much yourself.

Older, more active, more mobile, and more sophisticated healthcare consumers demand an ever more diverse healthcare team. Specialty hospitals, retail clinics, networked home care devices, house calls, health advice Web sites, and medical tourism represent the leading edge of innovation in healthcare delivery.

Consider the following medical care scenarios… You are in a car accident and are transported, unconscious, to the emergency room (ER) of the local hospital.

Medication reconciliation has been a requirement for acute care hospitals for more than a year. The regulation requires hospitals to implement a professional process to obtain and document a complete list of the patient’s active medications upon admission.

Last fall, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) embarked on the next phase of a plan aimed at continuing to improve the patient safety and quality of care across its network of 19 hospitals and more than 400 outpatient sites, physician practices, and other care facilities.

Government and private industry have worked together to address policy issues throughout America’s history. For example, since the 1970s, NASA has been in the forefront of research and development in the field of telemedicine with the help of private industry.

Most of what I hear about interoperability refers to sharing data among information systems. But in late June, I spent 3 days at a joint conference of organizations working on the interoperability of medical devices.