The economic impact of information technology

Business Economics, Oct, 1995 by Robert B. Cohen

By using this system, clinicians have saved a significant amount of time they previously devoted to retrieving images. Because they can easily retrieve past and present records, doctors in the orthopedics department of Madigan are already saving about two hours a day and seeing more patients in less time than they had before. Pulmonologists and hematologists expect to see similar or greater gains in their efficiency. The clinical acceptance of the new system has been remarkable, with doctors training themselves to use the diagnostic workstations.

These illustrations from the health care industry provide only a few examples of the type of benefits that broadband communications are likely to have. Consumers are also likely to benefit from other industries that can serve them better through the use of broadband links, such as insurance companies that use broadband connections to transmit photos of car accidents from adjusters who evaluate damages in the field and write checks on the spot.

It is also likely that, with better access to the Internet and other on-line services, an entire range of new services will be available to consumers. The benefits of these services are difficult to quantify, given the early stage of such services. However, they are likely to reduce the time needed to find important information and to obtain goods and services. They are also likely to reduce the cost of goods and services by cutting out the costs of people who have acted as middlemen.

FOOTNOTES

1 Joel Popkin and Company, "The Impact of Measurement and Analytical Issues in Assessing Industrial Productivity and Its Relationship to Computer Investment," Washington, DC.

2 Robert Cohen, "An Evaluation of the Economic Impact of Narrowband and Broadband Communications," Economic Strategy Institute, Washington, DC, December 3, 1993.

3 Interview with Jim Briggs of Kodak, September 8, 1993.

4 Barry Phillips, "ATM: From Sea to Shining Sea," Data Communications, October 1993, pp. 127-128.

5 "Publisher Cuts Production Time with SMDS," SMDS Today.

6 Interview with Grant Caldwell, Bell Atlantic Account Executive for banking, September 13, 1993.

7 A.O. Saarinen et. al, "PACS Economics and the Referring Physician," SPIE Vol. 1234, Medical Imaging IV, PACS System Design and Evaluation (1990), p. 806.

8 Ibid., p. 815.

9 Debra De Simone et. al., "Effect of a Digital Imaging Network on Physician Behavior in an Intensive Care Unit," Radiology, 1988, vol. 169, pp. 41-44.

10 Sridhar Seshadri et. al., "Cost-Savings Associated with a Digital Radiology Department: A Preliminary Study," Department of Radiology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 1993.

Robert B. Cohen is an Adjunct Fellow, Economic Strategy Institute, Washington, DC.