For years the debate has raged: Is it possible to see a return on the huge investments it takes for hospitals to purchase and implement sophisticated clinical information systems (CIS)? Some have asked whether the very notion of healthcare information technology (IT) return on investment (ROI) is an oxymoron (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society [HIMSS] 2003). The question is an important one. The cost of these systems is enormous, easily ranging into the millions of dollars, and IT is coming into its own at a time when the healthcare system in general is in deep financial trouble, as hospitals struggle to avoid seeing their bottom line dive irretrievably deep into the red.

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