Choose article on information technology in healthcare and discuss it. Write a two-page essay about this article explaining what the author believes; the implications of those beliefs for information management, health care and the structure of health care; whether you agree with his analysis, why or why not; and how would you solve the problem.
BENEFITS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY
Over the last decade the medical industry has experienced overwhelming advances, and even now further steps are being taken to help optimize patient care. The main purpose of Electronic Medical Record system is to effectively and efficiently organize and analyze health care data of every patient. Turning to electronic technology changes the landscape of patient and doctor relationships. The benefits of this technology are to significantly improve the following aspects of patient treatment.
Electronic Medical Record reduces the number of paperwork and improves the quality of care. Quick access to a patient’s health history documents allow doctor to pursue the necessary treatments or medications needed for a patient. The information from the patient’s personal health record also could be updated electronically and used as a health family history for future medical situations. It allows doctors to interconnect with any laboratories or other hospitals that the patient may have visited in the past. All tests performed on a patient, any blood work, or any regular treatments are noted in patient electronic-files, allowing the doctor to have a clear picture of every piece of information.
Electronic Medical Record reduces the need for repeat medical tests. IT system increase savings from less pulling of paper charts and the use of transcription services. A number of studies suggest that Electronic Medical Record have the potential to reduce the number of unneeded laboratory tests. Providing doctors with information about a patient’s previous lab work reduce the volume of tests ordered. Electronic Medical Record helps doctors to determine which medications are covered by the patient’s insurance. These speeds up the treatment and most importantly allow doctor to communicate with any other health facilities on behalf of the patient.
Electronic Medical Record reduces the length of hospital stays and improves the productivity of nurses and doctors. The average length of stay for patients in facilities with advanced IT systems got reduced by more than 10 percent. May research findings suggest that Electronic Record system decrease the time required for nurses to document the delivery of care. Electronic Medical Record system also helps doctors to provide other services for patients, such as better education about their health and assisting them in making choices from a variety of treatment options.
Some would probably argue that Electronic Medical Record will compromise individuality of each patient and it would require tech-savvy doctors. However, I believe Electronic Medical Record will make or lives easier and lower health care costs. Recommendations to CEO: Even though adopting electronic medical record system is costly, I would still recommend adopting it. Electronic Medical Record system is costly in a short run, but in a long run Electronic system would save billions of dollars to hospitals. Electronic system would increase productivity and efficiency of doctors and patients.
References
Longley, Dennis; Shain, Michael (1985), _Dictionary of Information Technology_ (2 ed.), Macmillan Press.
Isbell, Charles; Impagliazzo, John (2009), _(Re) Defining Computing Curricula by (Re)Defining Computing_, Association for Computing Machinery, ACM, pp. 203-225