What Role Does Technology Play In The Advancement Of Today's Healthcare System?

Technology is being used everywhere in the world. For example, technology is used to make cars, clothes, eye glasses, to teach and now it is utilized in health care every day. Technology plays a major role in the health care reform Act to reduce costs, improve access, and save lives. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , and its constitutionality ruling by the United States Supreme Court last June 28, 2012, mandates requiring all electronic medical records for all health care agencies in 2014 ( Jha, 2013, p 1628) . David Blumenthal (2009) surveyed all acute care hospitals in the American Hospital Association and found only 1.5% of U.S. Hospitals have comprehensive electronic medical records system. Also included in the Patient

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.

The healthcare industry is in the midst of a major change from paper based medical record keeping to electronic medical record keeping. As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was passed (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, 2014). HITECH is the U.S. Government’s first major contribution to the change from paper to electronic health information technology by setting meaningful use incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid providers that met certain requirements. Healthcare professionals that meet the meaningful use criteria will be awarded financially, and those that don’t meet the 2015 guideline will be penalized. We live in an electronic world of instant access to information and by adopting health information technology we give providers better and easier access to more information which in turn allows them to make a more informed diagnosis and treatment plan for the patient. The electronic health record (EHR) is part of the new information technology. According to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (2014.), EHR’s provide many benefits such as improvement in the quality of patient care; improvement in the coordination of patient care; more accurate diagnosis and better outcomes; a higher level of patient participation in their own care; and cost savings for the practice

The use of the electronic medical record and patient portals are just a few ways that technology has been applied in health care and with more technological advances we are creating many ways to access health care that were not possible before. One technological advancement that

An Electronic Health Record is a computerized form of a patient’s medical chart. These records allow information to be readily available to authorized providers during a patient’s encounter with the healthcare system. These systems do not only contain medical histories, current medications and insurance information, they also track patients’ diagnoses, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images and lab tests/results (source). The fundamental aspect of EHRs is that they are able to share a patient’s information quickly across service lines and even between different healthcare organizations. Information is at the fingertips of lab techs, primary care physicians, pharmacies, clinics, etc. The

We live in a digital age where everything from photos to important documents is saved or stored online. This includes the use of electronic medical records. The electronic medical record (EMR) is useful in assisting physicians to have a complete and thorough health history of the patient. The EMR serves as a continuity of care from one hospital to another within the same organization (Hsieh, 2014). Consulting physicians also have quick access to recent diagnostic imaging, progress notes, and lab results. EMRs can help manage patients with chronic disease states, aid in data collection for use in research, and prevent adverse drug events (Hsieh, 2014).

An external strength is the availability of new technology in the workplace. There are many emerging technologies that will change the practice of nursing in the coming decade including genetics and genomics, less invasive and more accurate tools for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, 3-D printing, robotic simulations, biometrics, electronic health records, and even computerized physician order sets (Huston, 2013). This skill set is forecasted to become even more essential in the coming years. One goal identified in the Healthy People 2020 initiatives is use of health information technology to improve population health outcomes and health care quality, and to achieve health equity (Healthy People 2020, 2012).

Quality, safety, and efficiency are essential attributes that healthcare workers must be able to perform to ensure their patient receives necessary care and treatment. “Implementations of potentially transformative eHealth technologies are currently underway internationally, often with significant impact on national expenditure. England has, for example, invested at least £12.8 billion in a National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) for the National Health Service, and the Obama administration in the United States (US) has similarly committed to a US $38 billion eHealth investment in health care. Such large-scale expenditure has been justified on the grounds that electronic health records (EHRs), picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), electronic pre-scribing (ePrescribing) and associated computerised provider (or physician) order entry systems (CPOE), and

Electronic medical records have the potential to transform and develop healthcare in a multiplicity of ways over the coming years. According to Net Health, there are three different ways that specialized EMRs are transforming the world of healthcare today. The first way is the fact that the more accessible data exists in the healthcare industry, the easier it is to make a diagnosis (NetHealth). These diagnoses are not being used in just one setting, however, but in a conglomeration of medical care settings. These include clinics and treatments which are improving the quality of life for breast cancer patients, diabetes patients, chlamydia patients and even colorectal cancer patients (Kern). Electronic records are creating a huge and accessible database to reach information more quickly and more efficiently. As physicians and practices,

An electronic health records (EHRs) has the simplest, digital (computerized) versions of patient 's paper charts. But, (EHRs) when fully up and running are so much more than that. EHRs are real-time patient-centered records. They make information available instantly "whenever and wherever it is needed." And they bring together in one place everything about a patient 's health. EHRs can: contain information about a patient 's medical history, diagnoses, medications, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, lab and test results; offer access to evidence-based tools that providers can use in making decisions about a patient 's care, automate and streamline provider’s workflow, increase organization and accuracy of patient information, support key market changes in payer requirements and consumer expectations. One of the key features of an EHR is that it can

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

Our world has been radically transformed by digital technology – smart phones, tablets, and web-enabled devices have transformed our daily lives and the way we communicate. Medicine is an information-rich enterprise. A greater and more seamless flow of information within a digital health care infrastructure, created by electronic health records (EHRs), encompasses and

Some of the forces inside and outside health care that are driving a move toward a greater use of informatics are national forces, nursing forces, healthcare consumer empowerment, patient safety, and cost. The National forces aim is to create electronic health records (EHR), and the creation of national coordination for healthcare information and technology. With the use of electronic health records many patients that have more than one provider will benefit because

The Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a vital tool in accessing the important details of the patient, the basic identification such as full name and birthday, the baseline vital signs and the past medical history as well as the current medical or surgical information. The integration of the EHR according to “the Agency for healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study highlighted the overall economic value” as well of having an EHR (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015, p. 255). The American Nurses Association (ANA) emphasized its goal of nursing informatics, which is to “improve the health of populations, communities, families, and individuals by optimizing information management and communication” in delivering excellent patient care utilizing the

Advancement in computer technology has dramatically changed the ways we live and interact with each other. Information and communication technology has been widely cited as a means of improving clinical records, quality of care, efficiency and reduces healthcare costs (Meum, Wangensteen, Soleng, & Wynn, 2011). Electronic Health Records allow for the electronic documentation of patients’ health history, present health status, procedures, tests, nursing interventions, medical interventions, point of