The National Research Council recently reviewed the capabilities of health care software implemented in the United States and described a health care information technology chasm that is threatening the medical community's ability to meet the health care quality goals enumerated in Institute of Medicine reports. Among the critical gaps is the inability of health care software systems to allow users to convert data into meaningful information supporting quality improvement, analysis, and research. In this article, the authors describe the Montefiore Medical Center's decade-long experience developing software for the purpose of converting data into useful information and integrating software use into the clinical culture. The program at Montefiore could serve as a potential national model.

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