Does Technology Have A Place? Healthcare? Essay

Advancements in technology have made it possible for people to access medical information, communicate with their doctor, manage and track diseases, seek help, and maintain anonymity. Technology has facilitated the tracking of medical information, for example, Kaiser Permanente uses a computerized system to store and track patient information. Any doctor in a

This is displayed by the use of information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, decrease error and support decision making. The majority of the healthcare world is ran by technology. Almost all charting is done on computers, which allows more than one healthcare professional to view the patients chart at one time. This technology also allows the patient to access their records online keeping them informed of test results. For example, this is exemplified by physicians entering their own orders into the computer. This prevents the use of unapproved abbreviations and mishandling of

One of the most complex challenges that healthcare facilities face, are the high occurrences of medication errors. Due to increased incidences of medication errors, it has become a major priority for healthcare systems to find preventions that could simply decrease medical errors. With evidence provided from different research healthcare systems are moving more towards using computerized information technology for simple automated notes, too bed-side bar code medication administration, electronic medication reconciliation and physician order entry’s as strategies to decrease medication errors (Agrawal, A. 2009).

Healthcare is a complex entity that encompasses a variety of specialties necessary toward meeting the needs of patient seeking clinical services. There are multiple communications necessary to efficiently meet patient needs. For many years detailed documentation, progress notes, specialty consults, and physician orders have been hand written. The legibility of this documentation was often illegible, and difficult to decipher, which resulted in clarification orders and often delays. The electronic medical record was introduced approximately 50 years ago with an ultimate goal of compiling healthcare information for immediate and future reference (Keller, 2016). Since the electronic medical records was initially implemented multiple versions have since been created. Successfully implementing the electronic medical record, requires a great deal of research to ensure that the specifications align with the organization’s short and long term goals.

Computer associated errors are most common and can be occurred by selecting the wrong templates with drop down menus. Clerical error can occur when user access the wrong patient file and place the orders of someone in that file. Many other errors can occur when the transmission phase of paper and electronic records. EHR can be a threat to physician patient relationship. They fear that electronic charting may distract them from direct care. EHR can bring the threat of cloning, which is the process of copy information from a previous visit and paste it. This tendency cause missing of new information and continues previous mistakes. The use of predesigned templates can cause too much information and an increased possibility of missing critical data. Improper medical alert system can cause override and alert fatigue. Over dependence on technology is a growing concern of health care. Organization should make sure that basic medical care will not be interrupted in the absence of technology, especially in the system downtime or failure (Aziz & Alsharabasi,

Technology and health care have a relationship that has grown exponentially over time. Not only has advances in technology allowed for more treatments and research into cures for diseases, but it has also created a better patient care in hospitals. This is why nurses need to “Demonstrate effective use of technology to navigate the electronic health record, communicate with inter/intraprofessional teams, and be involved with decision making in the delivery of quality and safe patient care” (Ivy Tech Community College, 2016). A study conducted by (use of electronic) found that the most common thing nurses use now to help plan patient care is electronic health records. What was once a stack of paper in a binder is now streamlined onto a user interface, with easier access to what parts of the chart a nurse would need, compared to having to flip back and forth between pages in a paper chart. Hard to read hand writing on paper charts could lead to errors in patient care; nowadays, electronic charts have information in easy to read fonts with important information sometimes bolded or in different colors, allowing the information to better catch the eye of the nurse to avoid mistakes. (use of electronic) also

The safety of the patient is very crucial when caring for patients and the community. The use of informatics would improve Patient safety, such as the use of medication barcode administration, (BCMA), and Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) are few informatics implementations that would help with patient safety in the healthcare system (Sewell, 2015) Cost is another driving force towards the use of informatics. With the cost of health at its highest, consumers and employers would use informatics to access the quality of care, compare prices and also compare providers. Medical errors in healthcare setting cost a hugged amount of money. “Electronically prescribed drugs are more legible, thus making it less likely that drugs would be wrongly administered to patients (Chih-Piing et al, 2016)”.The use of informatics will help reduce some of this error which would save the government, hospital, and consumers from extremely high

Reducing error – Digital records allow for better tracking and more standardized documentation of patient interactions, which has the potential to reduce error. With digital paper trails, illegible handwriting in clinicians’ notes or prescriptions is no longer a problem and coding for procedures or billing is easier. Integrated systems can also be set to flag drug interactions and other indicators of potential

Further, the speaker notes how information has impacted the healthcare system. Notable changes are the implementation of the electronic health record (EHR). Digitization in the healthcare system is evident, and many practitioners have noted with the era of advancing technology, many prefer to use paperless information as opposed to dealing with piles of documents.

In order for hospitals and other health care facilities to prevent the thousands of deaths and injuries that occur every year due to medical errors; health care systems were required to implement new record keeping technology. This technology has made patient information and treatment accessible to all who needed to see it. This is especially important when a patient has more than one attending physician and their care relies on each doctor knowing what the other one has done, serving as the prime communication tool between doctors. If organizations do not centralize their technology and essentially their patient databases, the potential for duplicate work or inefficient patient care can exponentially increase. These high tech medical

Another information system that has increased the ability of the physician to appropriately treat patients is a computerized physician order entry system (CPOE). “Using CPOE systems for entering orders for tests, drugs, and other procedures has led to reductions in transcription errors, which have led to demonstrable improvements in patient’s safety.” (NCBI) “More generally, medical errors (a leading cause of adverse events and other ills) are expensive, increase patient hospital length of stay, and cost human lives.” (Fichman/Kohli/Krisman) The utilization of these systems, decreases those errors that lead to increased costs. Medical errors in treatment or errors in the transcription of drug dosages are greatly decreased by the CPOE systems. These errors lead to malpractice suits that drive up the cost of insurance for the physicians and facilities. Having the COPE systems that reduce those errors causing damage and possibly death, also reduces the cost of medical malpractice insurance, the cost of which has driven many good practitioners to leave their fields and join the world of private sector testing and research.

Medication administration errors are a big problem in the nursing field. However, with the infusion platform, this prevents medication errors from happening. The infusion platform allows nurses to program the prescription ordered for the patient and blocks any low or high medication doses to enter the patient. With this new profound technology, it provides patient safety to the fullest.

Clinical Documentation has been used throughout the healthcare to analyze care provided to a patient, communicate important information between healthcare providers and patients, and provide medical records that will help patients track their conditions. The Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have revolutionized the process of clinical documentation through direct care to the patient. This electronic health record is a new technology that helps maintain patient’s privacy and to direct care of the patient. Both Computer systems and EHRs can facilitate and improve the clinical documentation methods, which is beneficial for all patients, the care teams, and health care organizations. In this case, clinical documentation improvement has a direct impact on patients by providing quality information. However, the new technological change can also address the health care system efficiencies that differ from paper-based charting. Obviously, the implementation of clinical documentation is essential to enhance the provision of safe, ethical, and effective care.

“To Err is Human (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 1999) brought national attention to approximately one million preventable hospital deaths in the United States. As a result of this alarming report, The Quality of Health Care in America Committee of the IOM proposed wide-ranging strategies that should be implemented by the government, healthcare facilities, providers, and consumers to reduce preventable medical errors. One of the prime recommendations from the report was the need to use a computerized health record system to facilitate improvement of patient safety” (Hamid & Cline, 2013, P.1). Basically, the meeting will consist of the presentation of the electronic system and a demonstration of how relative advantage, compatibility with existing values and practices, simplicity, trialability, and observable results are all factors that are a part of the adaptation process of the new electronic

In today’s medical field technology plays a big role when it comes to patient care. Technology is huge when it comes to giving the patient the best type of quality care when they are in the hospital. In the old days people would just write it down on a sheet of paper and record it by hand, which caused mistakes. Now with the Electronic Health Record those mistakes are drastically declining. Statistics have shown that using the Electronic Health Record has lowered Nursing mistakes as well as improved patient care. Our society has progressed through the years and has been introduced with the Electronic Health Record which has drastically improved our health care system. The Electronic Health Record provides great communication between