Important Advancements of Medical Science - Essay Example

"Important Advancements of Medical Science" is a perfect example of a paper on the health system. 
The three advances in medical informatics in the discussion below include telemedicine, protocol-based decision support systems, and clinical coding and classification (Khoumbati, 2010). Telemedicine is basically a communication linkage between medical experts and patients who are in remote locations. It is also communication between medical experts who are in remote locations via telecommunications. This is an effective way of reducing not only the time taken for the medical experts to avail themselves personally but also reducing costs as the only costs incurred are the telecommunications one and not others such as fare, accommodation, and other miscellaneous expenses. In terms of telecommunication between the medical experts and the patient of serious illnesses, it helps save lives and suitable even in emergency situations (Demiris, 2003).

The other advancement is the protocol-based decision support system. This acts as a guideline to physicians and clinicians as it provides the recent and up to date guidelines on treatments via the internet which the clinicians can follow and treat diseases. These guidelines are also useful in making clinical decisions regarding certain patient cases and especially the complex ones and even in the routine care of the patient.

Lastly, there is the medical coding system which is another medical informatics advancement but which is regarded as a bit technical compared to the two mentioned above. These coding systems allow for the medical data that is electronically captured and stored to be aggregated and analyzed and hence make it easier to describe in detail a condition and hence find a cure or way to address the medical problem more easily than before. With the different coding systems present, medical experts now find their diagnosis becoming simpler than before and even the language of medicine becoming more simplified for the majority making it easier and quicker to understand medical conditions and their treatment procedures.

How physicians are using what they have gained from informatics to diagnose and manage these patient disorders.

Using for the example the clinical coding and classification systems, the physicians are able to feed the data regarding the patient’s symptoms in the system, and the information is then analyzed and information provided regarding what disorder a patient might be suffering from. If still it is unfamiliar to the physician, he or she can then embark on the internet and seek more information using the protocol-based decision support systems and get guidelines on how to go about the disorder.

In case the disorder is too complex for the physician to handle or he or she lacks the necessary medical expertise to handle the disorder of the patient, telemedicine can be used. If for example, the expert physicians who can handle the disorder is in a different country, telemedicine using various forms of telecommunications such as video conferencing can be set up and the expert physician can provide the directions on how to go about with the treatment for the particular patient without any of the parties having to travel in order to treat the disorder (Demiris, 2003).

Using these advancements in medical informatics and medical science, any qualified physician (but who is not necessarily an expert in a particular disorder) can gain enough knowledge and guidance to treat or at least temporarily address the disorder and hence renewing the chances of the patient to live.