Technology Impact on Healthcare Decision Making - Essay Example

"Technology Impact on Healthcare Decision Making" is a good example of a paper on the health system. In recent times, the incorporation of innovations into medicine has proved to be of great benefit in healthcare. Technologies such as better monitoring systems, minimally invasive surgeries, and many others have allowed patients to spend more time to enjoy a healthy life and spend minimum time in recovery.

Clinical technological innovations

In surgery, there has been a tremendous amount of innovations and technological changes that have changed the concept of surgery for many. Three of the clinical technologies in surgeries that have taken place are:

1. Recently, there has been the introduction of surgical needles and tools that have been etched from silicone, in a manner that is similar to silicon chips. This has resulted in making injections and incisions painless in patients. Further, such instruments are seen to vibrate at ultrasonic frequencies and are ten times sharper than previous instruments. Adding further, there have been instances where silicon-based sensors had been incorporated into the instruments resulting in a wider range of application
2. For destroying tumors with minimal endangering to the nearby tissues, three beams of ultrasound are focused on a single point. This technology is vital and valuable for treating different types of tumors where the surgeons are able to make minimum incisions and surgical intervention and reach the lesions. When used, this technology proves to reduce the cost and morbidity linked with brain surgeries. It also reduces the time duration of patient stay within the hospital and allows brain surgeries to take place in reduced time with successful results.
3. A handheld probe is introduced for the treatment of negative breast biopsies following mammography. This probe introduces a minute current through the breast. Normally, the tumors in the breast are 40 times more conductive than the surrounding normal tissue. This allows the scanner to create an image that enhances the reliability of the diagnosis of cancer before the biopsy. This not only minimizes the level of anxiety for the women but also reduces costs.

Influence of technologies on decision making and ethical choice from the patient and healthcare provider

The innovation in surgeries, as seen in the last five years, has a tremendous influence on the procedures that are offered to the patients and more importantly influence the decision making capability of the patient regarding the surgeons they need for such advanced and new procedures. The new clinical technologies benefit the patients and also alter their behavior and of their surgeons. Initially, technological advancements are tested and their efficiency is proved along with their level of safety. Later, these technologies become heavily marketed and influence the decision of the surgeons as well as the patients.  It is mainly concluded that albeit the technologies are advantageous, it is most often that such surgical technologies are accepted by a limited number of patients.

Furthermore, with the implementation of new and improved techniques and technologies, there are certainly ethical considerations that are influenced by them. These ethical considerations include:

1. The concern of the patients are doctors regarding the outcomes of new surgical technologies
2. The concern of the fact that in what manner the responsibilities to the society and individuals balanced at large
3. The apprehension as to the question of ensuring the safety of these new technological procedures
4. Before the beginning of the surgery, the manner in which the patient is informed is
5. The processes and timings at which a new surgical technique is put into practice within a hospital

Technology in medicine: benefits and ethical dilemmas

The innovative technology in medicine acts as an increasingly important factor in providing efficacy in healthcare. Albeit the new technologies make use of a constant yet low expenditure of health care, approximately 5-10%, there has been a reduction observed in the patient stay within the hospitals after the surgeries to nearly 13 % in the year 2008. As a result of this alteration from the in-patient to out-patient care has presented with a substantial cost saving along with advancing and enhancing the quality of life. The value of the amplified efficacy cannot be overstated.  Having stated the benefits, new technologies bring with them a high degree of ethical predicaments. The patients are seen to be more likely as compared to their doctors in refusing the new treatments even after they have been fully made aware of the disadvantages, advantages as well as alternatives of the procedure. This is mainly because the patients claim that they ‘did not get the information’.  As a result, in the current era, the nurses and doctors need to be fully prepared to deal with such ethical considerations of the patients and their family members.

Read More