Technology Impacts on Healthcare Decisions Research (Essay Sample)

Technology Impacts on Health care Decisions
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Impact of Technology on Health care Decision
Who does not know this? That technological advance has brought tremendous improvement in the health sector. The health sector now, enjoys a lot of flexibility and efficiency in its operations (Kim, 2013). Technology and scientific inventions are key in the developments that have recently taken place in this sector, for instance, a number of medical services offered in health facilities have been made quicker and efficient. Patients are attended immediately, recording and retrieval of information about them done just by a click of a button and so interesting that patients liaise with doctors even outside the health centres and in remote areas.
Information Technological Changes
Many information and technological advances have seen healthcare sector make tremendous strides when it comes to delivery of services. The following are some of them:
* The electronic health record
Information and data are key factors in the health care units. Data of patients attending the health centres, data about the number of maternity and mortality. The government as well is highly a beneficiary of this data. This indicates that it is not only the health care sectors that benefits from this data, but it also helps the government in planning and execution of her programs. A well-organized storage system, more accurately, digital or electronic storage method is necessary as it gives users easy time to retrieve information almost in real – time situation (Mitchell, 2013). This technological change started to be in full force 5 years ago. It also minimises cases of disappearance of data, missing information about an activity among others.
Recording pharmaceutical information electronically enables users to know which drugs are available so that a purchase of such becomes easy.
It is because of data that decisions are constructed; the decision is one that is going to change and improve the operations and the outcomes and the quality of medicine provided. Electronic health record is an important record that enhances the security of information. Access to information controlled by encrypting the program so that any unauthorised person should not invade. It brings easy inter- communication between different health facilities, for instance referrals from one hospital to another is achieved faster because the communication is in real time. Decision by the management of health sector is quicker when everything digitalized because all the information accessibility, dissemination and delivery is proper and timely.
Procurement of medicines and delivery of medicines accelerated because records are clear and accessibility is simple. Tampering with manual data in files is rampant and the method of accessing it is tedious and time consuming. This may hinder the delivery of services and planning.
* Portal technology
The e – access of medical records and online interaction between patients and physicians is becoming active globally with the invention of portal technology. Patients access their records in a click of a button. Similarly, medical practitioners access all information about their patients. It allows an online interaction whereby it creates a platform to share and exchange various problems involving treatment or medication. At the comfort of their home, prescription of drugs done easily and the patient, provided with proper information on his or her portal. It is easy to monitor the progress of the patient and make appropriate adjustment where necessary. In 2013, 30 per cent of the health facilities in UK had introduced the portal technology now growing globally at an alarming rate.
The confidentiality of the information about the patient is paramount; therefore, the patient can only access the portal. A recently conducted research shows that portal technology is highly applicable in palliative care. The patients and care providers interact; monitoring the conditions of the sick is easy and timely. Palliative care given to those having illnesses that is incurable and needs frequent attention, it therefore necessary to keep in touch with the care providers. With the online portal, communication is efficient and timely to enhance delivery of services.
* M – Health
Mobile health is replacing manual health care devices where wires and cords are used, it allows patients and physicians to check on issues regarding health care easily and reliably. This technological advancement, which started in 2012, has brought a lot of flexibility in the provision of health care services. A research indicates that by the year 2019, the global m-health will hit $20.79 (Navathe. et al., 2013). This shows that there is a tremendous expansion of the market. This technology made possible with the use of smartphones and tablets, where information accessed with much ease. Physicians as well as other healthcare service providers use m- health tools to obtain orders, documentation and to collect more information when dealing with patients.
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