New to Health Care
What do you already know about technology in health care?
Over the centuries, technology in health care has modified the face of healthcare. The health sector has at all times merged the best and cleverest in communities to assist those requiring medical attention. From curing cancer and handling heart diseases to delivering babies, health care providers have developed technology and advanced practices.
The challenges that modern doctors encounter encompass a conked out medical system and unyielding insurance firms. However, doctors have been able to deal with these challenges to offer first-rate patient care and triumphant new practices. With the improvement of biomedical research, doctors will be better placed in dealing with medical issues in a cost-effective manner.
There are different technologies in health care that are transforming the health sector. Some of these technologies include electronic medical records (EMR), evidence-based guidelines and population science just to mention a few (Williams, & Boren, 2008, pp. 139-140). This paper will focus on electronic medical records as a technology in health care with the use of an article applicable in this field and that addresses the topic on electronic medical records.
Why did you choose this article?
I chose this article as it is a thorough account of the real execution of an EMR system in healthcare. Non-technological and available, this article provides contemporary, innovative study in a rising field thus turning out to be a vital reading for everyone engaged in executing technology in health care.
This entails doctors, managers and all stakeholders that require gaining from earlier experience. Moreover, this article is critical for information technology execution teams in addition to providers of information technology in health care.
Summarize the article
The majority of nations in the United Kingdom and America are progressively making use of electronic medical records to assist in the improvement of the quality of health care. Unluckily, many developing countries encounter different challenges, varying from outbreaks and civil wars to catastrophes. In addition, lack of a robust health care infrastructure in the manner of information and communications technology (ICT) fail to guarantee continuity of the health of patients that the majority of researches deem a lifesaving resource.
The aim of this article is to study the gains of electronic medical records and its involvement to the improvement of healthcare provision in developing countries (Williams, & Boren, 2008, pp. 141-142). The method employed in this article is searching from sites like PubMed and MEDLINE just to mention a few. Other measures were that researches must associate with significance and challenges of electronic medical records system and paper-based medical records.
Another inclusion criterion was the development and execution of an electronic medical record system in developing countries or the influence on provision of health care in developing countries. On the results section, twenty-three articles were selected as having certified the qualification criteria.
The selected articles were classified into five sections: benefits of electronic medical records, challenges, transition from paper-based to electronic medical records, electronic medical records in developing countries and pilot projects. Moreover, nine articles were rejected as three were not written in English while six were researches on electronic medical records in developed countries.
As conclusion of the article, the potential of electronic medical records system to revolutionize the provision of healthcare has been identified in the last decades, comprising the improvement of medical care and facilitation of judgment making practices. Some of the advantages of electronic medical records system encompass faultless medication records, comprehensible messages and prescriptions and instantly accessible charts (Williams, & Boren, 2008, pp. 144-145).
Irrespective of the hardships that developing countries encounter (for instance, shortage of human capital and monetary resources), the majority of researches have indicated the feasibility of support from developed countries to design and execute an electronic medical record system that suits this environment.
How do you think this technology will change health care?
Electronic medical records assist in the reduction of medical errors. For instance, a number of clinical information systems have the capacity to check suitability of medication and drug doses thus eradicating the requirement for doctors to indicate orders by writing to the patients. Additionally, electronic medical records will also raise the effectiveness of the work flow of health care givers.
With the aid of electronic medical records, data in the hospital information system will help in referring a patient to a specialist, researchers, doctors and other stakeholders to obtain information from the aforementioned information system to safeguard and enhance the wellbeing of the population through effective scrutiny, assessment, prevention and control of contagious illnesses.
Moreover, electronic medical records will present health care givers with the chance to be apace of patient health condition (Williams, & Boren, 2008, pp. 141-143). For example, through the creation of shortcuts to warning concerning atypical lab findings, prescription and drug management, doctors have the capacity to offer feedback to patients instantly devoid of any hardships.
List and define three to five terms from the article you were unfamiliar with
- Medical errors- preventable undesirable outcomes of care that could encompass incorrect diagnosis, wrong treatment and infection just to mention a few
- Clinical information systems- computerized systems that manage, store and verify every medical information
- Hospital information system- an all-inclusive, incorporated information system planed to handle the medical, administrative, monetary and legal features of a hospital as well as its service dispensation
Reference
Williams, F., & Boren, S. A. (2008). The role of the electronic medical record (EMR) in care delivery development in developing countries: a systematic review. Informatics in primary care, 16(2), 139-145.