Information Technology is changing Healthcare

We have known for some time now that the exchange of information has great power in many ways. Take weather and storm tracking for an example. From satellites we are now able to track, see the size, and know the severity of a storm. With hurricanes we have a good 72 hours to flee or prepare for the on coming ravage of the storm. Before this time we saw a storm coming from those already effected by it and had little time to prepare or flee. It is this way with healthcare concerning information exchange, and the timeliness of that information. Simply like a storm if you have the patients medical history at a click of a mouse you can with this alone give better more informed service, even more so if the patient arrives incoherent, or un-responsive.

Through the push for electronic medical records by the Bush administration in 2004, set the Healthcare information technology in motion and the inertia is building. To solidify the speed in the implementation of this technology only one year later 87 percent of hospitals had already or were in the process of implementing electronic health record (EHR) system. (Christina Beach Thielst). Not only was this decision made from the obvious benefits that can be achieve through safer, quality care but it also nearly eliminates errors, abuse, and fraud issues.

As we have learned in our last class with information made available for favorable outcomes much less errors will be made in bad diagnosis to wrong procedures which will help money lost through tort law; less mistakes, less law suites. Also from the same author Christina Beach Thielst stated that Medicare is looking at payment reform based on quality, and favorable outcomes instead of volume of patient’s served.

Personally I see all these changes moving in the right direction to greatly enhance quality, safety, and the most cost effective way to deliver healthcare. Also keeping the patient more involved and informed through new venues as Telemedicine will achieve better compliance with their wellness plan. However, I feel for the time honored physicians that are of the old school and are not commuter savvy. Simply If I had graduated and have been practicing medicine for 30 years, the last thing I would want to do is go back to school and learn computer science. However, in implementation, focusing on the safety of the patient and showing the wizened physician the value that is added they would be more enticed to be less resistant, and hopefully be involved in a leadership role.

References:

Telemedicine at http://www.telemedicine.com/consulting.html retrieved on September 28, 2009.

Christina Beach Thielst, CHE, Health Administration and Management Consultant,
Santa Barbara, California Journal of Healthcare Management. Chicago: Jan/Feb 2007.

Ball, Weaver, Keil “Heathcare Information Management Systems” Springer 2004.