Healthcare Information Technology Trends Throughout history, technological advancements have appeared for one purpose before finding applications elsewhere that lead to spikes in its usage and development. The internet, for example, was originally developed to share research before becoming a staple of work and entertainment. But technology—new and repurposed—will undoubtedly continue to be a driver of healthcare information. Informaticists often stay tuned to trends to monitor what the next new technology will be or how the next new idea for applying existing technology can benefit outcomes. In this Discussion, you will reflect on your healthcare organization’s use of technology and offer a technology trend you observe in your environment.

Healthcare Information Technology Trends Throughout history, technological advancements have appeared for one purpose before finding applications elsewhere that lead to spikes in its usage and development. The internet, for example, was originally developed to share research before becoming a staple of work and entertainment. But technology—new and repurposed—will undoubtedly continue to be a driver of healthcare information. Informaticists often stay tuned to trends to monitor what the next new technology will be or how the next new idea for applying existing technology can benefit outcomes. In this Discussion, you will reflect on your healthcare organization’s use of technology and offer a technology trend you observe in your environment.

Week 6 Main Post

Healthcare technology is advancing at remarkable paces and is confidently inspiring the healthcare world. The use of cellphone apps, texting, tablets, emails, facetime, computer monitors, and electronic health records (EHR) to name a few, allow healthcare providers to access their information wherever.  An electronic health record is a digital form of a patient’s paper chart (HealthIT, 2018b). Technology is everywhere now. There are technologies such as watches or halter monitors that allow patients to track and monitor their heartrate, blood glucose and weight. All that information can be transmitted to their physician for remote monitoring.  The public health department conducts public health assessments to evaluate where the health disparities are, and they use technology to gather that information (Laureate Education, 2018).

Even though technology is advancing and there are more resources available to our patients, one potential challenge is knowledge deficit with our elderly patients and those who are not tech savvy. Another risk is security breaches that allow patients health records to be exposed. This doesn’t only affect the patient but healthcare providers using charting systems in the hospital. The inability for a nursing personal to protect patient’s private health information, poses fines and possibly a loss of job (Mcgonigle & Mastrian, 2018).

A benefit of the electronic health record is the ease of access of medical records through online patient portals.  Health education is posted online and available for review. The patients can see diagnosis list, view their medication list, see recent lab results and communicate with their provider.  This empowers patients to manage their healthcare and promotes their involvement in care (Dykes, et al. 2017). Electronic health records improve patient care, increase patient involvement, are cost saving and help expand care coordination between intradisciplinary teams (HealthIT, 2018a). One potential issue with the portal, is the patient could have a knowledge deficit and not fully understand or misinterpret the information that is provided to them. This could lead to the patient attempting to google the terminology and lead to misinformation. In order to eliminate this issue, the patient portals should have links to educational tools that are reliable information (Mcgonigle & Mastrian, 2018).

Advancements in healthcare technology is vital to improve the quality of patient care and satisfaction. Educating employees on how to protect patients’ health information is going to be a pertinent aspect in order to safeguard them.

References:

Dykes, P. C., Rozenblum, R., Dalal, A., Massaro, A., Chang, F., Clements, M., Bates, D. W. (2017). Prospective Evaluation of a Multifaceted Intervention to Improve Outcomes in Intensive Care. Critical Care Medicine, 45(8). doi:10.1097/ccm.0000000000002449

HealthIT.gov. (2018a). Benefits of EHR’s.  Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-and-health-information-exchange-basics/benefits-ehrs

HealthIT.gov. (2018b). What is an electronic health record (EHR)? Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehr