Question

What are some benefits and some risks to using technology in the health care industry?

Answer 1

Technological developments in healthcare have saved countless patients and are continuously improving our quality of life.

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) replacing outdated paper records. 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.

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

1. Greater Patient Care : 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).

2. 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.

3. Ease of Workflow

Medical billers and coders are some of the most-impacted allied health workers .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.

4. Lower Healthcare Costs

Shifting from paper to electronic health records reduced the cost of health care. In a large city hospital network, that amount is incalculable.

5. Big Data and The Cloud : ‘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:

Reducing healthcare costs

Avoiding preventable deaths

Improving quality of life

Reducing healthcare waste

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.

6.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.

7.Improved Access to Big Data

The Cloud is an invaluable tool for medical research and sharing medical information. From mobilizing workforces to sharing big data to improve the accuracy of research studies, this full range of functions is changing the medical landscape.

Risks /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.

The risls of medical records hacking:

hackers stolen a record for health care companies .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 local clinic.

Patient records are apparently big business, with stolen health credentials fetching upwards . The information on these records can then be used to create fake IDs (to purchase medical equipment/drugs or submit false insurance claims).