The social areas, and especially the health sector, have suffered a major impact as result of the profound social and political changes of the last decades, the ongoing process of economic globalization and interdependence, and the harsh realities of structural readjustment taking place practically in all societies.

The loss of the capacity of the State to maintain social benefits systems, the failure of the public sector in the provision of health care when faced by the explosion of the demand and the mounting costs associated with redundant and many time conflicting health care models and interventions, have all motivated governments and international financing institutions to find new strategies for the sector. Similarly, the disenchantment with the biased political discourse that dominated much of the public health arena during the `60s and `70s and the realization of the impossibility to accomplish the postulates of Alma-Ata and Health for All by the Year 2,000 have stimulated the search for alternative forms of health care and a revision of the roles of institutions and professional categories. In this context, health information systems and technology have been found to be an essential element in the effort to improve the management of services and clients and to contribute toward the overall quality of care.