Technology in Healthcare - Essay Example

"Technology in Healthcare" is a perfect example of a paper on the health system. Communication is vital in healthcare as it makes it easier for the interdisciplinary healthcare team to access patient information and provide timely care. As a result, the frequency of medical errors reduces, leading to better patient outcomes. Some hospitals provide secure communication devices for their healthcare workers, while others allow the use of personal mobile devices in healthcare communication. Using personal devices is easier, swift, and they require no specific maintenance. However, using mobile personal devices may be costly, and the security of healthcare information may be compromised.
First of all, the use of personal mobile devices in healthcare is advantageous because they are easy and convenient to use. Healthcare providers know how their mobile devices work, and they do not require any further education on how to communicate with other health providers or access health information. According to a study done by Watkins et al. (2018), physicians can easily upload important health information from any place, such as pictures of X-rays, so that those on duty can access them. Besides, it may be difficult for busy healthcare providers to access computers in the hospital. As such, applications installed on their mobile devices may be a better source of health information. Hospitals may also incur fewer costs if personal devices are used in acquiring health information. A lot of income is used to maintain secured hospital communication devices, which could be used to install other essential systems.

Still, the use of personal mobile devices in healthcare may be disadvantageous because healthcare providers incur many costs when accessing and sharing healthcare information (Watkins et al., 2018). For instance, some healthcare facilities do not offer free WIFI to help staff members access health information. As such, each member will have to use personal data, which is costly when calculated on a daily basis. The use of personal mobile devices in healthcare may as well compromise healthcare information. Unlike secured hospital computers, mobile devices lack the required levels of security (Vrhovec, 2016). For instance, if a smartphone belonging to a healthcare provider is stolen, and it lacks proper levels of security, unauthorized individuals may open the healthcare application and distort confidential information. The patient care schedule may be greatly affected, leading to poor health outcomes. Lastly, some healthcare providers may lack efficient mobile devices that access healthcare websites (Vrhovec, 2016). As such, they may experience delays in accessing important health information, and this as well slows down the patient care process.

According to the discussion above, the use of personal mobile devices in healthcare communication is easier and reduces maintenance costs. However, such devices can comprise healthcare information due to a lack of proper security. In healthcare, security and confidentiality of patient information are essential. Providing nurses with company cell phones that have a secure login can improve the safety and confidentiality of such information. Although this might slow down the circulation of urgent health information among different health departments, nurses will be assured of the safety of confidential information. In my opinion, healthcare facilities should provide nurses and other staff members with secured cell phones to enhance better communication and secure health information. Personal cell phones are easy and convenient to use, but they risk the exposure of convenient information. Also, using personal cell phones increases spending on the internet and airtime.