Medical Technology And Its Impact On Health Care

Technology plays a critical role in the twenty-first century as it continues to improve everyday life. Technological benefits have expanded into the healthcare setting and has greatly impacted the medical field. Specifically looking at the nurse’s role, technology has eased interdisciplinary communication, accurate documentation, and reduced medical errors-at least that is the idea. Since a large portion of the nursing population was neither raised nor educated with technological knowledge, this raises a very interesting question. In acute care nursing, how does a negative perception of technology advancements compared to a positive view of technology effect patient care? Researchers wonder if these advancements have really improved their work performance as intended or if it has hindered it by lack of acceptance among the nursing staff. The research in this paper came from three different nursing journals that discuss technology advancements and nurses’ perception of this modern day tool.

While advancements in technology have positively impacted the nursing field, it has also created huge concerns with patient privacy and sharing of protected health information leading to detrimental effects to patients and their families. Indeed, technology is changing the face of healthcare with positive innovations to reduce medication errors and documentation errors. However, technology at our fingertips has created immense concerns with sharing of protected health information of patients via social media, email and other means of communication via technology. This paper addresses why I feel the advancement of technology has numerous deficits that need more research and implementation of new laws and policies to safeguard the

Over the past decade, virtually every major industry invested heavily in computerization. The heath care industry was no exception to the rise in the use of technology. These technologies are starting to allow health care practitioners to offer faster, and more efficient patient care than ever before. No doubt this is the right direction we expect health care to follow.

Going back hundreds of years, we can trace the history of health care. Although it has evolved over the years, it all has a common goal; to heal those who are ill. Technology is one of the major evolutions and now plays a big role in the health care system. It helps patients to be more involved with their healthcare. They can make appointments, follow up on test results, and contact their doctors. Back then, they didn’t even have all the medicine we have now, let alone the technology. We can only imagine what is in store for the future.

Medical technology encompasses a wide range of healthcare products and is used to diagnose, monitor, and treat diseases or medical conditions that affect humans. This may included but not limited too, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical equipment. Such technologies are intended to improve the quality of healthcare delivered through earlier diagnosis, less invasive treatment options and reductions in hospital stays and rehabilitation times. Recent advances in medical technology have also focused on cost reduction. Medical technology may include medical devices, information technology, biotech, and healthcare services. The impacts of medical technology may involve social and ethical issues. For example physicians may seek objective information from technology rather than listening to subjective patient reports. A major contributor of healthcare expenditure in America is the advancement of medical technology. According to several studies it is shown that there is a correlation between the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and money allocated to healthcare. One of the leading theories is that medical technology is growing faster than expected.

The health care industry is one of the most dynamic and delicate industries in the U.S. having experienced healthy and substantial changes for the last thirty years most of which have aimed to improve health care management and services delivery to the patients. The changes have enabled the integration of technology into the industry such as in the area of informatics, science and research and payment services and clinical treatments. The health care sector has introduced various changes to address disease and health care management such as the Modernization Act of 2003, the Patient Protection Act and Affordable Act, which aim at improving health provision and most

1. Although medical technology brings numerous benefits, what have been some of the main challenges posed by the growing use of medical technology in the United States?

In terms of healthcare, that is no different. According to Ray, MD and Norbeck (2014), “...it drew attention to and hastened the growth of a mega-trillion dollar industry that seems more interested in advanced technology, federal regulation and personal data collection, than in the doctor’s care and life-saving treatment of patients.” Ray, MD and Norbeck outline a doctor’s perspective as it relates to the many changes in the healthcare industry. Ideally it illuminates the advantages and disadvantages that it poses for doctors. Furthermore, it displays the general turmoil that has been spewing for them in terms of such changes for a significant amount of time. Ideally as Universal Healthcare is cutting costs for the average individual, it is also becoming expensive to maintain all the technological aspects of the system. Therefore, another aspect of the debate becomes noted and the question of whether the American Universal Healthcare system is really cutting costs becomes raised. Although seemingly it may be cutting costs, who fits the bill for all the technology that has come about within the healthcare system? Such an understanding creates a sense of awareness that technology is ideally taking over the healthcare system. Thus, many other debates have been formed regarding the issues of technology as it regards to the healthcare system. As some may not find it as much of an

Healthcare delivery in the United States has morphed through substantial changes over the years with most changes occurring as a result of technological advances in medicine. Though technological advances directly affect health care delivery in America, other factors affect it as well. As reported by Ball (2012), two of the earliest and most important technological advances that affected the system of health care delivery in the United States were the invention of the x-ray and the discovery of germs. These two advances drastically altered the health care delivery system and illustrate the way in which other technological advances may have bearing on the system. Further, these technological advances have drastically altered the public opinion with regard to the health care delivery system in the United States. Unfortunately, the resulting public opinion of the current health care delivery system is not necessarily a positive position. According to Jonas and Kovner (2008), this is probably due to the fact that health care in the United States remains a mystery to most. Additionally, the public opinion of the health care delivery system will continue to be affected by advances in technology as it was by the identification of germs and the use of x-rays in medical diagnosis.

In this paper, I will be discussing the growth in technology in today’s health care system. In healthcare, technology is increasingly playing a role in almost all processes, from patient registration to data monitoring, from lab tests to self-care tools. (Jayanth, 2014) Technology has change health care for the better; it gave stress and pressure employees more opportunities to do their job easier. By having a smart transparent information systems in the health care system, will benefit the organization and the employees at the health care organization.

The perception of the general public is that technology will improve healthcare efficiency, quality, safety, and cost (Powell-Cope, Nelson, Patterson, 2008). However,

Hospitals date back to over 2500 years ago in history. Yet, an important factor in the way hospitals run is the evolution of health care technology. Hospitals have been directly impacted from key technological advancements in the last five decades and present era. It all started in the 1960’s up until present decade 2010. With each decade brings change and progression. With these significant changes as years pass, competition is on the rise and external factors pose problem for hospitals to overcome.

Use of technology is on the increase to strengthen health systems and improve the efficiency and quality of health care. In research, technology can be applied from data collection, analysis and dissemination. It’s a venture that makes work easier and should be embraced in moderation. The accuracy of information obtained from technological means is high and it is verifiable with very little manipulation.

In today’s day and age we are a society that revolves around technology, with this being said as technology changes so does our society. In today’s healthcare fields the same is true healthcare revolves around technology and its advances. These technologies play a major role in the way we do things in healthcare and also how we give care to patients. One major technology that is currently revolutionizing healthcare is telehealth. The concept of telehealth has many different aspects which are helping to eliminate gaps in the current healthcare system by building bridges linking patients to all of their healthcare needs. It also allows to healthcare members to easily monitor patients and gain knowledge to give care. Telehealth is clearly positive effecting healthcare today, but even despite these positive effects of these technologies telehealth still face many challenges moving forward.

As a nursing student, one may ponder how technology will impact healthcare. Technology drastically impacts healthcare. There are numerous angles to