Since it is a fact that information technology can greatly enhance the efficiency and profitability of every enterprise, every industry has embraced it with open hands. Our world has become a technology-driven one. Information technology has seeped into the healthcare field too due to the fact that it can be profitably imbibed into the healthcare field, especially the administrative and clinical part. Thus, the quality of service provided by our hospitals has gone up with the emergence of healthcare IT technology.
Healthcare IT technology can be positively implemented in nine specialized areas of hospital management. The first of these is the electronic health record keeping. Here, an electronic cabinet is created for every patient and all information, including images, healthcare records and notes are stored safely. This would greatly assist in providing quality service to patients since easy tracking of patients and retrieval of patient data are possible.
The medication ordering and fulfillment system, which includes lab orders, discharges, referrals, transfers, radiology studies etc has undergone tremendous improvement with the advent of computerized provider order entry. In addition to this, changes are visible in clinical support decision system which gives real-time recommendations with regard to diagnosis and medication to doctors. The influence of IT is there even in issuing simple alerts, warnings related to prescription drug interaction, full clinical pathways and protocols.
Another important field where IT has forcefully entered is the picture archiving and communication system where images from various devices like X-ray are captured, integrated, stored and distributed to users on the basis of requirement. Radio frequency identification is another area where healthcare IT technology has its influence. It helps in keeping track of the patient during the whole time he or she is admitted in the hospital with the assistance of a wireless communication system.
Automated dispensing machines, electronic material management, interoperability between different organizations or hospitals, bar coding of healthcare environment are the remaining fields where IT can aid immensely. In short, incorporating the ever-improving healthcare IT technology in the day-to-day functioning of a hospital can greatly improve the efficiency of the healthcare staff as well as the supporting staff, enhance the comforts of the patient, make clinical operations easier and faster and thus improve the overall ambience of a hospital. After all, healthcare means putting the patients to ease and curing them.
