Opinion: The fatal cost of hospitals' IT ignorance

The most significant issue with health-care technology in the U.S. is a humble problem: how to manage all the new stuff. The health-care industry lags behind most other industries in technology, so health administrators lack experience operationalizing new systems. Too often, they make rookie mistakes. They assume everything is plug-and-play, then panic when things go wrong. They set unrealistic timelines that demoralize staff. They rely too much on vendors. And they expect technology to somehow electronically solve complex human and managerial issues. This management problem is very serious, at the roots of widespread dissatisfaction—sometimes outright revolt—from physicians, nurses and other clinicians who are not happy when their hospitals convert to digital solutions.