Advances in information technology can go a long way to reduce administrative costs and paperwork, which the Administration has targeted as a key goal of health care reform. Three-quarters of Americans think reducing paperwork is a convincing reason to support health care reform and believe that reducing paperwork could significantly reduce health care costs. On the positive side, people see health care as an important issue that should be universal. The flip side, however, is that people do not readily translate their health care concerns to information technologies. They talk about preventive care and universal access, but not in terms of information-they feel they have enough information now.
People confuse medical advances and communications advances.
They feel that medical advances are critical but that communications advances in the medical field, by contrast, seem gimmicky and unnecessary. This issue of the public's understanding of what the information superhighway can contribute to health care reform is clearly an area that needs more research.