Health IT is not just dollars and cents

As the Washington Technology staff was putting together this issue with its coverstory on health information technology, I was getting an up-close look at healthIT in action as my wife gave birth to our first child, aboy named James.Our due date was Sept. 2, but because of some complications,James came 10 weeks early, entering theworld with a full-throated cry.Staying at the hospital with my wife through thosefirst days after James' birth and now making daily visitsas he works his way through the neonatal intensivecare unit, I've seen how important IT is topatient care.It includes the beautiful simplicity of a privacyfeature that allows only the user to see what is ona PC monitor. Other systems give direct andimmediate care, such as the wireless phones thatall the nurses and doctors carry.A white board in my wife's room listed the current shift's nurse with herphone number. If Beth needed something, she only had to dial the number andthe nurse would answer. The nurses also wore devices the size of a luggage tagthat allowed them to know precisely where the other nurses were on the ward.As is apparent in Alice Lipowicz's cover story, health IT is a growing businessarea for government contractors, and many of them are investing heavily bymaking acquisitions and hiring doctors and other domain experts.But when you are touched by the potential of IT to improve the quality ofhealth care, the opportunity is about more than dollars and cents.