The healthcare industry is one of the worlds largest and fastest growing industries. It accounts for approximately 18.3% of the United States Gross Domestic Product according to the National Health Expenditure Accounts [NHEA] (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 2022) . It is to be expected that the industry continues to expand, and that it’s stakeholders: patients, payers, providers, and policymakers have evolved to meet the healthcare needs of a dynamic public. As the healthcare industry grows and evolves, new healthcare roles have emerged, and existing healthcare roles have changed to meet the demands of the nations evolving healthcare system. Healthcare Information Technologists play a critical role in healthcare policy today, in part due to provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the expansion of electronic health record keeping. The ARRA offered incentives to eligible healthcare …show more content…
The efforts of the US government to improve the transparency and transfer of healthcare information in the US gave rise to this prominent and emerging healthcare profession. Healthcare information technologist interact with a variety of payers, patients, doctors, and policymakers on a daily basis to help improve the public's access and quality of care, and increase interoperability within the healthcare system on a regional, national, and global level. While I would ultimately classify them as policymakers because they have the most profound impact in healthcare policy-making, they influence all four healthcare stakeholders in a deeply profound way. Indeed I assert that the distinction among healthcare stakeholders grows less mutually exclusive every day, and more and more selectively