In the past few years, health care organizations in the United States have spent tens of billions of dollars on IT. Much of this investment has been in response to the "meaningful use" section of the American Investment & Recovery Act of 2009 and provisions in the Affordable Care Act of 2010, which required health providers to invest in patients' electronic health records and allow for electronic data reporting to the government. But many providers are still not leveraging the vast amounts of data that they are collecting to improve the quality of care, increase patient satisfaction, and reduce costs. Indeed, most information available to health care workers and managers is still retrospective.
