Is there an association between the use of computerized system and hospital mortality? In a large-scale hospital study, the study investigator randomly sampled 35 hospitals from all hospitals in Texas. Within each of the sampled hospitals, 500 patients who were hospitalized during the past year were randomly chosen. Their medical records were retrieved and whether they died while hospitalized was noted. It was found that on average, hospitals (26 of them) in which health care information is gathered and stored on computers had a lower patient death rate than hospitals (9 of them) that still rely on the ‘paper' system (using paper forms and handwritten notes).