Health IT Trends: Improving Patient Care & Efficiency

Information technology trends are infiltrating the health care industry, making business functions and the delivery of patient care, more efficient and effective. Information technology has multiple applications available to benefit the medical field.

Patient Information Management Systems

• Based on the November 2006 publication by Image Computing Systems Laboratory, information technology has created electronic ways for health care organizations to store patients' medical data. Patient information management systems allow doctors' offices and hospitals to maintain digital medical records for easy access.

Pharmacy Systems

• The process for getting prescriptions filled has been made easy, thanks to information technology. Systems like Infoscriber and E-Scriber systems, create an electronic link between health care clinics and pharmacies to expedite the process of patients getting their medication.

Testing

• According to the Health Information Management Systems Society, information technology has been used in healthcare to improve medical testing equipment, such as MRI's and digital X-Rays. Thanks to information technology, patients can have a more pleasant experience with less adverse affects.

Improving Patient Care

• According to the Health Information Technology website, information technology advances have been used to improve patient care by providing earlier diagnoses and providing more accurate characterizations of diseases.

Privacy and Security

• Information technology systems provide health care providers with a more private and secure way to store patient health information, billing and claims information and prescription data. Privacy and security settings can be determined by health care administrators to ensure that only appropriate staff can access restricted, confidential areas.