From Beckers Hospital Review:

Health IT has numerous potential benefits, including improved patient safety, lower costs, higher patient and provider satisfaction and healthier communities. However, these benefits depend on wide adoption of HIT across healthcare settings and patient populations. A common belief is that older adults have more difficulty accepting and using technology. Is this true? And if so, how will this affect the success of health IT in hospitals and health systems?

Reasons for adoption
People who have grown up using technology, or "digital natives," tend to adopt technology, at least initially, for different reasons compared to those who are new to technology, or "digital immigrants," according to Ryan Sandefer, chair of the health informatics and information management department, and Shirley Eichenwald-Maki, assistant professor in the department at College of St Scholastica in Duluth, Minn. "Digital natives are more willing to use [HIT] for technology's sake," Mr. Sandefer says. "Digital immigrants are more interested in how this will help them."

The reason older adult healthcare providers may be more resistant to adoption of new technology is because they are not convinced of its usefulness in patient care or their workflows...

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