The Use of Technology in Health Care
The use of technology in health care has resulted in various accomplishments. The heart of clinical integration is medical technology. An integrated health institution must be capable of not just delivering systems but also managing a large network of information. The technology allows for the collection, storage, and dissemination of clinical and financial data in order to monitor quality and care costs. Mount Sinai, for example, is a healthcare facility in New York City (NYC) that has embraced technology throughout the care continuum to improve the health of its patients. Therefore, this paper endeavors to discuss the efficient use of the patient-care technologies, communication systems, and the information systems across the continuum of Mount Sinai Hospital.
Communication Systems
Mount Sinai uses a linked or integrated communication system (How, 2009). An integrated communications in the whole care continuum has been achieved in Mount Sinai hospital through the creation of notification email and communication system that regards frail community where patients dwell and particularly in Mount Sinai hospital. The aim of the linked communication system is to ensure that there is medically relevant information exchange among the nurses who have the knowledge of the patients in all points across the care continuum. In Mount Sinai hospital, if a patient needs to have unscheduled admission to the emergency department (ED), the arrival of the patient in the ED prompts email notification and promoting communication concerning the patient’s care (Furst et al., 2013). The communication systems in the healthcare are good for the progress of the hospitals.
Benefits and Weaknesses
The communication system technology can assist the nurses in understanding the health issues of patients with a communication problem. Also, the technology is useful in that it can help the nurses and doctors across the care continuum to share patients’ data for better services. However, despite the benefits, the communication system technology can provide means for the fraudsters to access a patient’s health or financial details. When patients use the voice technology devices, it might be difficult to read body language that is essential for symptoms detection. Another benefit of the parent-care technologies such as the intubation is that it saves a life but on the other hand it may lead to temporary speech loss (How, 2009) and therefore a lot of precautions must be taken.
Information Systems
The information system has been used in the healthcare systems to enhance staffing of the hospitals based on the evidence (Harper, 2012). The ratio of the nurses to the patients has been the underpinning factor for the increased mortality in the healthcare facilities. Research shows that the connection between the hospital staffing and the outcome of the patients is directly proportional to patients’ mortality (Harper, 2012). The technology used within the healthcare facilities has proved to be a significant tool for the assessment of the actual nurse staffing decisions.
Benefits and Weaknesses
The use of the information system technology makes it easy to pass information from one hospital department to another concerning the health condition of a patient within a short time. The technology also makes the healthcare system services to be available at all times for the inpatients and outpatients. Lastly, the technology is cost-effective and leads to increased productivity. The information technology provides healthcare to the patients regardless of their characteristics as whether man or woman and hence equitable. It also reduces delays for those who need healthcare and also provides services based on the proved scientific evidence (Furst et al., 2013). On the other hand, the information technology impacts on the diversity of the patient's culture (Gonen et al., 2016). The new information technologies (IT) are currently developed at an exponential rate making access completely confusing.
Managing Change and Technology to Improve the Patients’ Outcome
Change is an inevitable activity in all the environments that are difficult to handle at some times. Managing change in the healthcare is about proper handling of the technical complexities. It would involve evaluation, planning and implementation of operations and above all ensuring that change is relevant. One way to manage and technology is to establish a vision for the modification of direction process (Al-Abri, 2007). The outcome of the technology or change should be measured and monitored to ensure essential recognition of the purpose fulfillment (Al-Abri, 2007). In essence, managing change and technology requires that proper training is provided for the nurses. Moreover, individuals in charge of healthcare systems should record the emerging health issues and design ultimate solutions for improved future healthcare because according to the theories of nurse informatics, every single action which is taken in the healthcare largely depends on the previous knowledge and information (Berner, 2014). Therefore, management of change is essential for improvement of patients’ outcome.
Executive Summary
The introduction of technology in the healthcare has led to the elimination of barriers to the health care and this has made technology to be an integral part of the healthcare. Most of the care continuum in Mount Sinai Hospital has been integrated with technology. The primary reason for integration is to provide the highest quality of the services that are cost-effective for patients with chronic conditions. Many more hospitals continue to use the technology in hospitals due to its ability to provide simultaneous and accurate services. Today, the acceptance of the technology in hospitals has enabled the care continuum to provide additional services for the patients. In general, the current status of technologies presents new opportunities for better diagnosis, monitoring and management of the patients. Currently, many healthcare providers employ technologies across the care continuum for wellness and therapeutic remedies of illness.
Proposed Improvements
Some of the proposed technologies for healthcare advancement include the use of the sensor and the Internet of Things (IoT) technology. The technology will allow remote monitoring of a patient. The technology is user-friendly in that it is easy to understand and cost effective. Through automatic measurement and analysis of the data from the patients, this technology promises an improvement in the care and this is perhaps a new area of exploitation for the industry players.
Risks of Making and Not Making Technological Changes or Improvements
Making technological improvements in the healthcare involve some levels of risks. Not making improvement in the technology can potentially reduce the satisfaction of the consumers. It can also hinder improvement for medication adherence and this will not help the healthcare providers to track and as well as monitor the health of patients accurately.
Recommendations
The health care providers should be provided with adequate training on the new technologies. Healthcare facilities should develop a system that promotes equity and respect among the patients. The technology being used for the treatment of a person should not interfere with the patients’ cultural stand.
References
Al-Abri, R. (2007). Managing change in healthcare. Oman medical journal, 22(3), 9.
Berner, E. S. (Ed.). (2014). Informatics education in healthcare: Lessons learned. London, UK: Springer
Furst, C. M., Finto, D., Malouf-Todaro, N., Moore, C., Orr, D. A., Santos, J., ... & Tipton, P. H. (2013). Changing times: enhancing clinical practice through evolving technology. Medsurg Nursing, 22(2), 131.
Gonen, A., Sharon, D., Lev-Ari, L., Strauss, E., & Segev, R. (2016). The Impact of Nursing Students’ Cultural Diversity on the Intention and Attitudes Toward the Use of Information Technology. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 27(3), 302-310.
Harper, E. M. (2012). Staffing based on evidence: can health information technology make it possible?. Nursing Economics, 30(5), 262.
How, A. A. C. (2009). Communication access across the healthcare continuum.
