Editorial Overview---The Role of Information Systems in Healthcare: Current Research and Future Trends

Information systems have great potential to reduce healthcare costs and improve outcomes. The purpose of this special issue is to offer a forum for theory-driven research that explores the role of IS in the delivery of healthcare in its diverse organizational and regulatory settings. We identify six theoretically distinctive elements of the healthcare context and discuss how these elements increase the motivation for, and the salience of, the research results reported in the nine papers comprising this special issue. We also provide recommendations for future IS research focusing on the implications of technology-driven advances in three areas: social media, evidence-based medicine, and personalized medicine.