It is evident that technology is playing a critical role as far as the provision of quality healthcare is concerned. The implications that these technologies have had in many healthcare settings cannot be understated. Such efforts have been directed at changing the way contemporary healthcare is being provided to the patients with the efforts of ensuring that patient satisfaction and desirable outcomes are achieved.
Some of the emerging technologies likely to influence the healthcare system include accurate diagnosis and treatment tools, genomics and genetics, biometrics, computerized order entry, and electronic health records (OJIN, 2013). These new technologies are projected to have profound positive effects on the healthcare system due to the fact that they will ease the process of service provision to patients and also lead to nurses’ job satisfaction.
The new technology in use currently in my place of practice is the adoption of the electronic health records (EHR). This technology involves recording and restoring of patients’ information online in such a manner that it becomes easier for many care providers to access the required information about the patient’s medical history. This is vital in choosing the correct diagnostic tests to suit the correct treatment regimen (Abramson et al., 2014). Also, this technology has been beneficial in our care setting since it provides accurate information which is important in making informed decisions by care providers. Such efforts are aimed at reducing any possibilities of medical errors and also the avoidance of treatment errors. If used more in the nursing profession, it will eventually lead to lower costs of receiving medical care in addition to the reduction of any clerical errors (Abramson et al., 2014). Additionally, if this technology is widely employed, research on data collection for drugs, and medical devices and also medical techniques will be highly boosted thereby improving the efficiency.
A major barrier to the implementation of this technology is the resistance to change whereby not many nurses are willing to adopt this technology mainly due to the lack of the technical knowhow of using them. There is also the issue of compromised patient privacy since their medical data is available to many physicians. Such an issue has got profound effects on the moral and ethical stands of patients (University Alliance, 2016). The cost outlay of adopting the technology is also high thereby creating barriers to its usage. To solve these problems, there is the need for healthcare settings to create programs which will be helpful in training nurses to acquire computer literacy skills to enable them to wade through the technology. On the cost factor, it is important that hospitals set aside finances for research and development. Such monies can be used to expand the usage of the EHR usage in our healthcare setting (University Alliance, 2016). On privacy issues, there is the need for security policies to be developed in order to control the accessibility of patient information by unwanted persons. As such, there is the need to develop security systems like passwords to control the access of information. These efforts are directed at having the technology widely adopted.
References
Abramson, E. L., McGinnis, S., Moore, J., & Kaushal, R. (2014). A statewide assessment of electronic health record adoption and health information exchange among nursing homes. Health services research, 49(1pt2), 361-372.
OJIN. (2013). The Impact of Emerging Technology on Nursing Care: Warp Speed Ahead. Retrieved from http://nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/ANAMarketplace/ANAPeriodicals/OJIN/TableofContents/Vol-18-2013/No2-May-2013/Impact-of-Emerging-Technology.html
