Role of Health Information Technology in Improving Healthcare
Healthcare is one industry where Information Technology has made a dramatic improvement, and yet the growth is being expected to gain even more pace with time. From robotic arms performing surgeries to Nanorobots delivering drugs through the bloodstream, machines, and software are playing a significant role in improving healthcare.
Health Information Technology is changing the way healthcare is being used to improve patient care. It helps in providing complete information with the highest accuracy about patient’s history and health. This makes best medical advice available without delay even in case of medical emergency. Healthcare IT is contributing to healthcare services by playing several vital roles. Some of the significant facets where the Health Information Technology is paving the way to bring about improvements in the field of healthcare services are:
Financial Savings: Healthcare services are relatively expensive and wasteful repetitions may worsen the situation. Some of the expenses which get eliminated by implementing Health IT include repeat procedures due to lack of information, delay in receiving information due to the traditional methods employed in sharing of information, delays in taking care, errors while delivering information, etc. Health informatics is known to reduce errors, improve the communication process, enhance the efficiency of the process with which the information is shared and made accessible accurately in lesser time.
Improved Practice of Medicine with More Exchange of Knowledge: Healthcare is a field where information keeps moving back and forth between healthcare providers and the patients. Each condition brings new learning about patients, therapies, diseases, and medication for healthcare practitioners and serves to hone their skills. This sharing and exchange of information make them better at their core skills, improving their knowledge and skills at practicing medicine.
Streamlining Processes: Health is a delicate aspect and streamlining the processes can make a significant contribution in this aspect. Healthcare industry involves data gathering which involves tremendous efforts and is a tedious, time-consuming process. Capturing information online and automation of administrative activities can save time, reduce coordination, eliminate any delays, and allows the professionals to focus on improving quality of healthcare offered. This creates a seamless customer experience for the patients at every point of service.
Improved Coordination: A patient is dealt with a number of people during their treatment and hospital stay. Thus there emerges a need for having timely coordination amongst the specialists and the nursing team. Sometimes, the same information is required by so many different people that the patient or their attendant find it challenging to handle. Health IT improves the capturing of data and the dissemination of information flows smoothly which prevents several problems from arising, and the patient care does not suffer for the delay in coordination.
More Accurate Data Collection: When reading hand-written data scribbled by different people, it might become hard to decipher information in several cases. This increases the probability of human error which may pose a high risk. Also, if handwritten data is manually fed into digitized forms, there is sufficient scope for transcription errors. By using the technology in collecting patient data enables medical staff to capture data more accurately and efficiently. The use of right tools eliminates the risk of having errors. The advancement of technology is making it possible to prompt in case incomplete or inaccurate data being entered through built-in verification. This also reflects in patient experience and satisfaction for the services received.
New Paradigm in Clinical Care: New disciplines like nursing informatics are emerging through the use of IT in the healthcare industry. This serves to make the practice of nursing smooth with the use of IT for managing the data that is collected in the process. It thereby also helps to make the nursing staff more conversant with the available data, easily spot technical errors with data, and much more. This helps them in offering quality care and leaves them with more time to serve the patients better. They are able to utilize their passion for science and data in improving and widening the scope of healthcare services for people.
Saving lives: Another important impact of Health Information technology on healthcare services is that the number of cases where data could help save lives is regularly increasing. Timely exchange of information, getting complete knowledge about patient history, and seeking expert advice on similar cases and related case-studies is possible with the help of health IT. This enables healthcare professionals to take benefit of this information without losing on time. The outcome is that the lives can be saved in giving the right treatment without losing time or without any delays.
In a nutshell, Healthcare IT has emerged as the major contributor to changing the way healthcare services have improved over time. Health IT has paved the way to offer the best kind of healthcare services with higher efficiency and more significant results at lower costs. All thanks to technology and Health IT!
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