It is historically proven that the US has a very poor track record dealing in the health care industry. Compared to the rest of the nation, the United States has "above average rates of medical errors and of infant mortality and below average life expectancies". At the very same time, we still have a large population of uninsured individuals and many people are trying to move toward electronic health records. These systems include reminders for specific patients and also guidance when treating patients. It can help with less costly online interactions between patients and clinics instead of the more costly face-to-face version. Also, physicians can communicate with order providers through an electronic system to make sure patients follow through with needed procedures like lab tests for example.
Information Technology in the workplace of healthcare professionals, specifically the Electronic Health Records, can be a great improvement. Adam Seth Litwin of MIT mentioned in his article that information technology could reduce medical errors, help improve the treatment of diseases (i.e. beta blockers), and early detection of diseases such as Type 2 diabetes. Also, the implementation of IT in healthcare helps physicians learn the best practices for medical conditions and also reach out to patients that would need these treatments. IT may hinder jobs but can be a great help in most industries, as was described for the industry of healthcare.
Sources:
Letwin, Adam S., Information Technology and the Employment Relationship:An Examination of the Adoption and Use of Electronic Health Records, September 2008. Web 23 September, 2013.
http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/45152/315870120.pdf?...1
2nd Annual HIMSS Mobile Technology Study sponsored by Qualcomm Life Dec 2012.
http://softwareconsortium.com/healthcare-distruption.html
I have been especially grateful for the technology in healthcare systems. In the past, when you went to the hospital or even various doctors’ offices, you had to fill out paperwork and hope that you didn’t forget any pertinent information. When you make an emergency visit to the hospital, your mind is usually not as focused on your medical history as it is when you are at a routine check up with your primary care physician. While you still fill out paperwork each time, this is mostly to verify that they have the correct information on file. This could be life saving technology for someone if they forgot to tell the nurse that they could have a deathly allergic reaction to a food or medication. Now networked facilities can access all of your medical information at once. I appreciate that the CMC network has one database that houses all of my medical information. When I went to see a physician as a follow up with regards to a visit to urgent care, he had access to all of the information concerning that visit. That way we could skip all of the discussion about what happened at the urgent care facility and go right into the specifics of the persistent problem. There was no need to physically transfer x-rays; my physician had access to them electronically right then and there. In another instance, I had forgotten to list a medication I was allergic to, but when the nurse came into the exam room she specifically asked about it. That is reassuring to know that there is a backup system to my often failing memory.
ReplyDeleteMost corporations make employees aware of the company policy at the time of hiring. The use of internet and private information cannot be penalized but employment can be terminated.
ReplyDeleteThe law requires that companies comply with security systems that protects customers information, thus the percent of funding allocated to IT, updated technology and security systems is about 40% of the total budget(in most corporations).
This is just my point of view... great post by the way