Discuss benefits and disadvantages of technology in healthcare.

Discuss benefits and disadvantages of technology in healthcare.

Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

The Digital Age in Healthcare

Health care management in the Twenty-First century has evolved tenfold through technology compared to health care in the previous century or even two decades ago. Prior to the Twenty-First century families were provided medical care in their own home maintaining privacy and comfort. Families would take care of their ill family members until all remedies possible were used and then a doctor would be called when family members could not handle the treatments. As research in medicine expanded, new treatment tools and technologies resulted in changes of healthcare delivery, as a result doctors quit making house calls and became affiliated through a hospital. Families relied on each other for physician recommendations. Advances in digital media are changing how patients get information about hospitals and how patients choose a physician.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

By 1995 NSFNET was decommissioned, which removed the remaining restrictions on the use of the Internet by the public in the US, consequently a vast array of medical information became public information (internetsociety.org). Medical websites such as WebMD are the first used to self-diagnosis prior to making a doctors appointment. A survey conducted by Pricewater Copper showed the “most trusted resources online do doctors, followed by nurses, and hospitals, post those” (digitaltrends.com). As of lately more medical professionals and hospitals have turned to social media to convey health information. Marketing specialist Amanda Mauck thinks that engaging patients via social media to provide comfort, not just relevant health information. A specialist for Le Bohnheur Children’s Hospital, Amanda says users of the hospitals facebook page “love the photos ..

There are no two ways about it: technological developments in healthcare have saved countless patients and are continuously improving our quality of life. Not only that, but technology in the medical field has had a massive impact on nearly all processes and practices of healthcare professionals.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

In this article, we look at the benefits and disadvantages of technology in healthcare and their relationship to both patients and professionals alike.

Digitalization of Health Records
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) replacing outdated paper records has been a massive game changer for everyone in the medical world. Medical assistants to medical coding professionals to registered nurses are just a handful of roles that have been impacted by this industry-wide implementation.

Nurses and technicians are responsible for inputting patient data into a central, digitized system. Medical billers and coders appointments update patient records with diagnostic codes (such as test results) and submit medical claims to insurance companies.

Not only can patients access their records at the click of a button, but it’s also ensured that mistakes are caught more quickly (without needing to pore over unreadable physicians’ handwriting).

Among the many benefits that electronic health records have brought to healthcare include:

Greater Patient Care
EHR – AIMS Education

EHR can automatically alert the treating physician to potential issues (such as allergies or intolerances to certain medicines). EHRs can be accessed from nearly any medical facility, which is extremely useful for doctors assessing non-local patients (and crucial if the patient is unresponsive).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Improved Public Health
EHRs provide invaluable data to clinical researchers, helping to advance medical knowledge and the development of treatments for common health problems (like viral outbreaks).

A standardized health IT system can provide insights into how widespread an outbreak is, enabling preventative measures (such as increased flu shot production) to be put in place much more quickly.

Ease of Workflow
Medical billers and coders are some of the most-impacted allied health workers, and – according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – demand for this sector is expected to increase by 13% from 2016 to 2026. The introduction of EHRs has only made life easier for medical billers and coders.

Entering data into a computerized system is much less time-consuming than paper-based methods, and it reduces the risk of errors in patient data and financial details. Accessing patient records digitally also allows medical coding experts to work from home, increasing efficiency and productivity.

Lower Healthcare Costs
According to a study from the University of Michigan, shifting from paper to electronic health records reduced the cost of outpatient care by 3%. These researchers estimated this as $5.14 in savings per patient each month. In a large city hospital network, that amount is incalculable.

Disadvantages of Electronic Health Records
Theoretically, shifting to EHRs should change everything for the better. Unfortunately, there are some kinks that still need to be ironed out. Rather than a records system that works fluidly, many networks lack interconnectivity, which means that many don’t have the ability to communicate between one another. Sometimes, this lack of communication can put patients’ health in danger.

Big Data and The Cloud
Big Data and The Cloud – Medical Records

‘Big Data’ is the buzzword of the digital age, and often intertwined with electronic health records. The term refers to enormous amounts of data which are collected, processed, and used for analytics.

When analyzed by data experts, this information has multiple benefits, such as:Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Reducing healthcare costs
Predicting epidemics
Avoiding preventable deaths
Improving quality of life
Reducing healthcare waste
Improving efficiency and quality of care
Developing new drugs and treatments
Healthcare collects and stores huge amounts of data every single second (one research study can amount to 100 terabytes of data), so these facilities require expandable, cost-effective, and safe storage solutions. This is where The Cloud comes in.

The Cloud then uses hardware and software to deliver services across the internet. Healthcare professionals and patients are both able to access certain data and use applications from any internet-enabled device – anywhere in the world.

Better and Safer Data Storage
Cloud computer technology allows for masses of information to be stored at an unbelievably low cost, all without the limitations (and expense) of additional hardware or servers. With an increased reliance on EHR systems, Cloud storage protects against the loss of sensitive data with strong backup and recovery services.

Improved Access to Big Data
The Cloud is an invaluable tool for medical research and sharing medical information. Back in 2014, it was primarily used to exchange health information and store data, but by 2016, its capabilities were better understood. From mobilizing workforces to sharing big data to improve the accuracy of research studies, this full range of functions is changing the medical landscape.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Dangers Associated with Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
We can’t deny the many advantages of technology in healthcare, but as with all tech breakthroughs, there are a handful of issues that require attention

Centralized Data Point
While having a central point for all data information is extremely useful, overdependence may result in serious repercussions if there are connectivity or bandwidth problems.

However, the main concern rising from Cloud computing technology and increased mobile use is security and data protection.

The Risk of Medical Records Hacking
The Risk of Medical Records Hacking

In 2015, hackers stole records for almost 80 million Anthem customers and employees, the second-largest health insurance company in the US. Only names and addresses were stolen, (no details of illnesses or treatments were exposed), but if this can occur to an insurance giant such as Anthem, it raises questions about how safe patient records really are in your local clinic.

Patient records are apparently big business, with stolen health credentials fetching upwards of $10 each – about 10 or 20 times the value of a credit card number. The information on these records can then be used to create fake IDs (to purchase medical equipment/drugs or submit false insurance claims).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Information and Communication Technology
Information and Communication Technology

As of 2019, approximately 95% of Americans have a mobile phone of some kind, and like any sector, healthcare has had to transform its processes to connect with people easily and efficiently.

Information and communication technology (ICT) link healthcare professionals – as well as professionals with patients. Email, smartphones, telemedicine, and telemonitoring systems are all used to share information and are especially useful for more rural areas and locations with a lack of facilities and/or specialists.

From diagnostics to management, counseling, education, and support, there’s seemingly no end to custom healthcare software development.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Disadvantages of Information and Communication in Healthcare
While these technological developments offer countless benefits, the number one concern revolves around increasingly impersonal patient-doctor interactions. Studies, however, state that artificial intelligence might be able to free up a doctor’s time, affording them more time to interact with their patients. Only time will tell, but the data is promising.

Telemedicine
The terms ‘telemedicine’ and ‘telehealth’ can be used to refer to two-way video consultations (or the transmission of healthcare data like electrocardiograms). Telemedicine can be used in many fields, especially in a sector like cardiovascular healthcare.

Telemonitoring technology can monitor vital signs, symptoms, and even blood levels from a remote location. Future cardiac monitor technicians will be happy to learn that AliveCor is developing a device to detect potassium blood levels to prevent hyperkalemia. Though not yet approved by the FDA, this is a perfect example of how technology is meeting the needs of at-risk patients.

What Are The Benefits of Telemedicine?
Telehealth is improving allied healthcare jobs, including some of the top-paying roles in the field. The implementation of these telemedicine options means fewer patients in waiting rooms and less pressure on front desk teams.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Other benefits include:

Shorter patient waiting times
Improved access in rural areas
Improved efficiency, leading to savings
Mobile Health
Mobile Health

Mobile health (or ‘mhealth’) refers to healthcare and medical information that’s supported by mobile technology. In 2015, approximately 80% of physicians used mobile devices and medical apps, and 25% applied them to providing patient care.

The Advantages of Using Mobile Equipment
From accessing a patient’s EHR, reviewing medical histories, writing follow-up emails, and sending prescriptions to pharmacies, smartphones allow practitioners to complete tasks from nearly everywhere in the world.

Improved communication aids the role of medical billers, allowing them to send text message alerts about payment schedules and outstanding bills. Mobile communication can also cut down on snail mail, paper use, and unnecessary time spent on phone calls.

The Disadvantages of Mobility
Even with the most advanced technology, human error can’t be erased completely. Mobile devices can be easily lost or stolen, and they’re also vulnerable to hacking, malware, and viruses (especially if the devices are used on unsecured internet connections).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

Mobile App Technology in the Medical Field
Mobile App Technology in the Medical Field

There’s an app for almost everything these days, and healthcare apps are constantly being developed for both healthcare and patient use. As one of the fastest-growing markets in mobile application development, there are a plethora to choose from – perhaps the greatest downside!

What Do Mobile Health Apps Do?
Mobile health apps offer greater flexibility to all parties. They’re one of the most inexpensive ways for facilities to provide stronger services to their patients.

Some work to create better health awareness while others facilitate communication between patient and care providers. Some of the areas that ‘mhealth’ apps assist with include:

Chronic care management
Medication management
Medical reference
Diagnostics
Personal health records
Women’s health
Fitness and weight-loss
Mental health
The Verdict on Healthcare Technology
Despite the obvious concerns (and even dangers), the importance of technology in healthcare means that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

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The systematic application of computer science, information, and technology to the realms of public health, learning, and research is referred to as public health informatics. This area of study contains the principles that define, describe, guide, and serve as a creation of a framework for the types of challenges and activities within this field of study. It is important to note that public health is different from that of healthcare within a healthcare setting as it deals with the overall health of the given population or community, as opposed to the specific addressing of health issues for those who seek out treatment for specific ailments or illnesses. Understanding the difference between the two, and how information technology is applied within this realm is the first step in understanding the new world of medicine in existence today.
Patients who are being treated for a particular illness may be placed in quarantine if they have either a deadly or a highly communicable disease within a healthcare setting, while the education and prevention of the spread of that disease within the general public would fall under the domain of public health. In this manner, both actions work to prevent the further spread of a given illness. Environmental factors, including automobile safety and water and air quality would fall under the purview of public health, as an additional example (Yasnoff, O’Carroll, Koo, Linkins, & Kilbourne, 2000).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

The second principle of public health looks at the prevention of disease and or injury through the modification of the conditions present within the environment of the general population that serve to put that population at risk. Public health works to prevent damages and or infections as opposed to healthcare within a healthcare setting, a practice that is designed to treat the condition following its initial occurrence. The third principle investigates the various methods of prevention that may be taken at each step in the process that may result in disease, disability and or injury. The preventative interventions designed by public health initiatives are based on their level of expediency, efficacy, cost, effectiveness, and level of social acceptability. A public health initiative that is low cost and effective, for example, would have a decreased effect when compared to one that is easily implemented and acceptable on a social level as well, for example. Examples of public health initiatives include legislative mandates regarding standards for housing and building codes, solid waste and greywater disposal systems, wastewater treatment plants, the mandate of smoke alarms and fire systems within commercial buildings, the fluoridation of a municipal water supply, and the removal of lead from gasoline due to the health issues that the breathing of the fumes caused. While some clinical and surgical encounters fall under the domain of public health measures, such as those associated with preventative care, the majority of clinical and surgical encounters would, on the other hand, fall under healthcare within a healthcare setting as they are designed to treat a preexisting condition. Vaccinations fall under the heading of public health as, while not mandatory in all areas, these actions work to ensure that the majority of children and infants in the U.S. are protected from contracting various diseases, ranging from measles, mumps, and rubella to chicken pox (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

The fourth, and final principle, allows for an understanding of the governmental context of public health initiatives. The majority of public health initiatives are employed through various governmental agencies and it is through these agencies that responses are provided to legislative, regulatory, and policy dictates. These mandates work to balance the priorities of society as a whole while at the same time taking into account the specific needs of a given community, enabling the agency to work to protect the community as effectively as possible within the context of a given emergency. Examples may include the shutting down of a restaurant that has been shown to cause food poisoning due to the improper storage or cooking of food; recalls on medications, like aspirin, when a particular batch has shown to cause sickness instead of aiding in health improvements; recalls on food wherein that food has been shown to cause illness; and even the closing off of a given body of water, such as a community pool, when improper treatment has allowed for the spread of bacteria.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

The principles that define public health are those that likewise govern public health informatics. To assess the health risks and status of a given population, it is the responsibility of investigators to collect as much information as possible on the given issue of public health. This may include collecting information from hospitals, doctors, social service agencies, site investigations, and population surveys; all of which must be wholly accurate and analyzed in such a way as to provide a direct course of action for the members of public health, allowing for a determination as to what must be done to work to address the given threat to the community. All data must be legible, easy to understand, and appropriately analyzed, while at the same time ensuring that all patient privacy data is protected. This matter is further compounded as a result of a lack of standardization during the process and a lack of standardization between the processes present in different groups working to advocate for the public health. Coding systems and standards currently in place did not take into account the needs of an ever growing population when they were implemented, and do not take into account the need to manipulate an ever increasing amount of information. In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted for the purpose of mandating standards for the transmission of patient data, administrative data, and financial data as related to healthcare.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

A further obstacle present is the current difficulties and obstacles that are present in the exchange of information that occurs between clinical care and public health; a great deal of the information is provided on handwritten forms that are put into the computer at a later date, creating issues of underreporting of the current state of conditions and diseases affecting a given population, as such reporting is based off of information entered into computer databases, which may be delayed during transcription. Information must be able to flow easily between laboratories, clinical offices, and make its way to the public health system as necessary in the most expedient manner possible. The automated presentation of prevention guidelines does indicate clinical care improvements; however, public health and clinical activities are still not integrated to optimal levels at the level of electronic information sharing and data exchange.

While information exchange may be seen as an issue, it is no secret that it has improved over the years. This is largely as a result of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, a mandate that encourages hospitals and other organizations responsible for the provision of healthcare to utilize electronic health records (EHR), thus increasing the expediency of data collection and transfer (Livingood, Coughlin, & Remo, 2010). Through the creation of incentives designed to counteract the high up-front costs that may be present in the transition from paper records to EHRs, the utilization thereof is more likely which in turn works to facilitate the jobs of those within the field of public health (Livingood, Coughlin, & Remo, 2010; Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2014). Applied EHR systems are typically either not available in other organizations or the records created in one are not compatible to other medical institutions, thus working to increase the overall protection afforded to patients (Menachemi & Collum, 2011).Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay

As technologies continue to advance, the challenges of public health informatics are starting to be addressed; with the implementation of EHRs, the field has been improved dramatically, allowing for increased data exchange between those in clinical care and those in the fields of public health. As a nation, the improvement of public health informatics through the application of technology has served to increase the overall levels of health within the community, allowing for the focus in today’s society to shift from treatment to prevention as a primary form of care.

Technology is doing wonders to the health care world. We have advanced tremendously from previous years and researchers are still finding ways to improve the system. Technology in health care is so important because there are many barriers that stop people from receiving the help and care they need due to many reasons like language barriers. With the improvement of technology, we have witnessed how people’s health and wellbeing has improved by using fitness apps and watches that track calories and footsteps. Research was conducted on the gadgets, apps and devices that are shaping health care today. In recent light, the United States has tried to implement the computerized medical records in hospitals and clinics. Companies are also investing in creating technology that helps doctors connect with one another and translate medical information to people that do not speak English. It will definitely take time for the world to implement a systematic health care plan because many places lack the funds.Digital Age Healthcare Dangers Essay