Essay on "Healthcare Changes to Healthcare Practice"

Essay 4 pages (1016 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The cost and complexity of such a system, however, would have made it impractical, and thus these systems were not a standard part of medical business operations two decades ago. Most offices still kept primarily paper records, possibly with digital backups but certainly not with the degree of storage, cross-referencing, and communicability that exists today. Many offices also would not have had an Internet connection, and the infrastructure did not exist for communications between offices at sufficient enough speeds to make such communications of billing and insurance information practical. Information systems consisted of paper records and many different phone and fax numbers, all likely collated by a computer at some level but not coordinated at all to today's level.

Other Health Care Information System Advances

The major differences in the information systems that existed in healthcare offices two decades ago and those that exist today are the result of many smaller specific innovations in many different areas (Wager et al. 2009). Software development that has specifically targeted medical businesses has led to major changes in the way healthcare organizations store and process information, making systems far more accessible to users and requiring less intensive specialized training then in previous decades (Anderson & Aydin 2005). Without the specialized software created for this purpose, the Denver office could not operate in as integrated a fashion.

Another specific technological change that has allowed for the changes in medical business practices is the growth in communications infrastructure, namely the various technologies (including cable Internet capabilities, DSL wiring, and the growth in wireless and satellite-based communications) that allow for geographically disparate entities to communicate almost instantly. These communications can now also take place on a largely automatic basis, with computers in the medical office communicating with computers in a billing office without the need for operators at both ends to be engaged in the data communications process (Wager et al. 2009). This creates tremendous improvements in the efficiency of data communications in the medical industry now compared to what existed twenty years ago, and without the physical infrastructure that actually transmits this information such changes in efficiency would have been impossible (Wager et al. 2009).

Conclusion

Despite the increases in efficiency that current healthcare information systems allow for, healthcare costs have actually been rising. The price of all of this efficiency has been considerable, and as the pace of information increases it is likely that costs associated with technology in the medical sector will rise (Wager et al. 2009). Even as the price of individual technologies continues to fall, the pace at which these technologies must be purchased increases, easing operations and improving care but at a growing financial expense. Only time will tell where the balance will be found in this conflict.

References

Anderson, J. & Aydin, C. (2005). Evaluating the organizational impact of health care information systems. New York: Springer.

Armoni, A. (2000). Healthcare information systems: challenges of the new millennium. Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Wager, K., Lee, F. & Glaser, J. (2009). Health care information systems:… READ MORE

How to Reference "Healthcare Changes to Healthcare Practice" Essay in a Bibliography

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