This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Panko, W. B. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Panko, W. B.

Clinical Care and the Factory Floor

University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.

Corresdpondence and reprints: Walter B. Panko, PhD, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Informatics, and Director, School of Biomedical and Health Information Sciences, MC 530, College of Health and Human Development Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1919 West Taylor Street, 2nd Floor, Chicago, IL 60612. e-mail: <wpanko{at}uic.edu >.

Received for publication: 04/11/99; accepted for publication: 05/17/99.

The purpose of this article is to provide the author's perspective on whether it is likely or feasible that those working in the health care domain will adapt and use lessons learned by those in the industrial domain. This article provides some historical perspective on the changes brought about in the industrial domain through the introduction of new technologies, including information technologies. The author discusses how industrialization catalyzed changes in health care delivery that paralleled but lagged behind those of the broader U.S. economy. The article concludes that there is ample reason for those interested in improving the quality and effectiveness of health informatics to systematically evaluate information technology strategies used in the industrial domain. Finally, it outlines some challenges for health informaticians and a number of factors that should be considered in adapting lessons from industry to the health care domain.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				W. W. Stead and N. M. Lorenzi Health Informatics: Linking Investment to Value J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., September 1, 1999; 6(5): 341 - 348. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]