It's Role in Healthcare

Information Technology's (IT) role in today's Healthcare has been more profound than ever before. With the rapid transition to Electronic Medical Records, IT has come with a great deal of both advantages and disadvantages. For example, EMR greatly increased the efficiency within system by facilitating the transfer of patient information between physicians. With increased efficiency, however, a higher incidence of error may be present. Functions like "copy and paste" without editing or updating the information can lead to information that is incorrect in the patient's file leading to incorrect diagnoses or improper treatment regimes. EMR has decreased the amount of error in some aspects of healthcare, but like all other computer systems, it has brought about a problems associated with information technology, including security and human error.

The most interesting part of the article is the discussion of IT in the hospital system with the focus being on the adoption of IT and potential barriers. Healthcare is different than most industries in the fact that it is very slow to adapt to change. While most companies are looking cutting-edge technology to stay a step ahead of the competition, most healthcare providers and hospitals are slow to adapt to new ideas since they have the capability to drastically alter patient care. As the report states, while there are a number of factors that push towards IT investments, others pose barriers. With many hospitals close to bankruptcy, cost will always be a major factor in the decision making process. If EMR systems actually increase patient safety, will this benefit outweigh the cost of implementation, or will the money be more beneficial to patient care by investing in other areas such as CT or MRI devices?