The Impact of Information Technology on Healthcare Profession - Essay Example

The Impact of Information Technology on Healthcare Profession Introduction It is evident that the world is experiencing a major revolution thanks to the growth and proliferation of information technologies. This inclination is traceable back to the emergence of the internet technology in the later 20th century. The emergence of internet technology marked an important period in the world. It marked the beginning of a technology revolution that has continued to transform the world in all aspects. Prior to the emergence of the internet technology, life was largely dependent on analogous and human-intensive systems. For example, writing letters was widely used in communication. The postal services industry was big and booming. Nevertheless, with the materialization of the internet, as well as, related technologies such as email and social media, things have changed significantly. Presently, it is easier to send an email or an instant message via social media than sending handwritten letters. The email and the instant message will be delivered to the intended recipient immediately while the letter may take hours or days to reach the destination depending on the distance between the sender and the recipient. This is just an illustration of the principal alteration of information technology. This paper focuses on the impact of information technology on the healthcare profession. The paper argues that information technology has had a major impact on healthcare as a profession including the nature of healthcare practice, relationship with customers, and management of healthcare information/records. The paper is organized into different sections. The first part gives an introduction into the main topic and the thesis. The second section provides the main discussion. It is organized into different subsections that focus on specific areas. The final section will be the conclusion. The conclusion will restate the thesis and highlight the main points emerging from the main discussion. It will also provide appropriate recommendations. Information Technology in Healthcare Information technology is a growing field that focuses on computer and telecommunication systems that are used in information management. Information technologies, therefore, include computers, computer systems, telecommunication systems, and other information systems. Apart from computers, other typical information technologies include smartphone, enterprise resource planning systems, Tablets, internet, email, social media, and cloud computing among others. The information technology field is much broader. While these examples of IT (information technology) are used across all fields, some of them are specifically important in the healthcare field. Today, the healthcare field is applying information technologies in almost every aspect. Computers systems are widely used. Almost every healthcare facility has computers that are used for storing health records including patient records, physician records, and financial records among others. Apart from storage, the computer systems are also used for processing, sending, and receiving data/information. For example, a healthcare facility may have a database of all physicians working there that can be used to send memos to the physicians easily and conveniently. However, to illustrate the real impact of information technology on the healthcare field, it is important to consider one of the main information technologies that are transforming the sector, the EHRs (Electronic Health Records). An EHR is an integrated digital system that is used to store, process, and retrieved health records in real-time for purposes of healthcare by authorised users. The ERP system goes beyond the normal healthcare information management to ensure that healthcare is patient-centred. Unlike in the traditional healthcare information management systems, the ERP integrated different stakeholders including health professions, patients, and other authorised entities in the provision and management of healthcare. Some of the typical ERP functions include: i. Storage of health records including patient medical history, medications, and diagnoses. ii. Allows healthcare providers to access evidence-based tools that are essential in making healthcare decisions. iii. Streamlining and automating workflow of healthcare providers. iv. Sharing healthcare records across healthcare organizations and stakeholders. With the introduction of ERP systems, healthcare providers are experiencing major changes in how they operate. For example, healthcare professionals are able to communicate and share health information with their colleagues as well as with patients. In terms of accessing latest healthcare information, ERPs enable healthcare professionals to access the latest researches, which they can use to improve their practice. From the example of the ERPs, it is evident that information technologies are transforming the entire healthcare sector. Particularly, healthcare professionals are experiencing major changes, which will continue to impact their profession. Considering the nature of information technology to change rapidly, it can only be expected that the healthcare sector will continue to experience growing impacts from emerging information technologies. Before anticipating what impacts new information technologies might have in healthcare, it is important to consider the current state of IT in the sector. Current State of IT in Healthcare The current state of IT in healthcare is varied. While some healthcare systems have made major strides towards adopting IT, others are still lagging behind. This distinction is evident in the gap between healthcare systems in developed and developing countries in terms of IT adoption and utilization. While the healthcare systems in developed countries have embraced IT systems to a large extent, those in developing countries are still far behind. This is occasioned by various factors. According to Cresswell and Sheikh (3), the adoption of health information technology is slow because of the complex links between technical and social issues in the wider health organizational environments. This complexity makes it difficult for introducing and implementing health information technologies. The process of adopting health information systems is not liners. Rather, it is a dynamic process that involves multiple cycles of trial and error to develop the perfect alignment of the organizational, technological, and social dimensions (3). In the US, evidence from the 2012 NAMCS (National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey) shows that there are significant variations in the level of adoption of EHRs. The level of basic EHR adoption was higher (42.5 percent) among primary care physicians than among specialist physicians (34.0 percent). NAMCS also established that variations in EHR adoption were based on ownership type and practice size. EHR adoption was significantly higher among hospital-based or group-based physicians (57.7 percent) than among solo-based practitioners (25.6 percent) (Stalley and Catherine 7). In the UK, the current state of IT in healthcare is not as impressive as it is in the US. Although the National Health Services (NHS) embarked on an ambitious plan to transform IT-based healthcare in the country by setting targets for adoption of ERP systems in towards the end of the 1990s, the implementation has been poor (Currie and David 147). The failure rate in the implementation has been considerably high (60-80 per cent) (160). The differences in adoption of information technologies in the healthcare systems of different countries illustrate the challenges in their adoption. Various studies have revealed that several factors act as barriers to the adoption of such information technologies in the sector. According to Tang et al. (125), the barriers to adoption of EHRs can be categorised into technical barriers, behavioural issues, and organizational barriers. Some of the main barriers include the high cost of ERP systems, lack of commitment and understanding of ERPs use among healthcare practitioners, legal issues, and rigid organizational cultures. Despite the low levels of adoption and implementation of information technologies in the healthcare sector, there is evidence to show that adoption rates are increasing. More healthcare organizations are adopting different types of health information technologies. This growing trend is caused by the role of governments and stakeholders in addressing some of the major barriers to adoption of health information technologies. For example, the US and UK governments are offering financial incentives to healthcare facilities and organizations that are embracing ERPs (Llewellyn et al. 87). How IT has Impacted Healthcare Practice The adoption of IT in the health sector has had a major impact. The healthcare sector is experiencing a major technological revolution that is slowly changing how the sector is in terms of structure and practice. To understand how this is happening, it is worth reminiscing how the sector operated in the past. Previously, the healthcare sector was physician-centred. This means that the physician was the main stakeholders in the sector. The physicians were responsible for almost everything such that the patients were only passive recipients of healthcare services. The patient would go to the physician and the physician would diagnose his problems and recommend or provide the appropriate treatment. A good point to remember is the traditional practice of doctors writing prescriptions or test results on paper. The doctors’ handwritings were very poor and illegible to patients. Although patients would carry the written prescriptions, they could hardly understand anything that was written. This traditional system prevented the patient from actively engaging in the healthcare system. However, with the emergence of IT, this culture is fading away. Although some physicians still use the poor handwritten papers, most have transitioned to information technologies such as computer systems where the patient records are stored. With these new information systems, patients can easily request to access their medical records. The problem of poor handwritten and illegible characters has been resolved because computer systems use standard languages and characters. This has enabled patients to become active participants in the healthcare delivery. For example, patients can access background information about specific physicians or health facilities, which they can then use to make informed decisions including which physicians to go to and which hospitals to seek healthcare services from. Apart from the shift from physician-centred healthcare to patient-centred healthcare, the adoption of IT has also led to the shift from human-based to technology based healthcare delivery. The era of manual storage of health records is slowly being overtaken by the digital platforms. The traditional manual systems required intensive manual intervention such that hospitals and physicians required employing specific individuals to manage the paper files. However, the manual files had many disadvantages including the risks of losing important records due to loss, fires, theft, and damage. Storing such paper files also required bigger spaces for storage. With the emergence of new information technologies, these problems have been resolved. For example, by storing patient records on computer systems, the threat of losing information due to theft or fires has been minimized. Additionally, the emergence of virtual storage has also reduced these threats. Physicians and other health professionals can store, access, receive, and send health records from anywhere and at any time as long as they have the necessary gadgets and networks. For example, with EHR systems, physicians can communicate directly with patients and other physicians without necessarily having to meet physically. Physicians can also provide services via these technologies. The adoption of IT in healthcare has also improved the quality and delivery of healthcare services. In the traditional manual-based systems, errors were common in the delivery of healthcare. However, with the introduction of information technologies, these errors have been reduced. The end result has been the improvement in the quality and effectiveness of delivery of healthcare. For example, the use of PCISs (patient care information systems) has been shown to reduce medical errors and hence improve the safety of healthcare systems. This is because of the PCISs are integrated systems that allow easy and instant access to patient electronic records that can be used to make effective decisions (Ash et al. 104). What Healthcare Organizations and Professionals will need to do to Be Competitive? The healthcare system needs to take into consideration the role of information technology in transforming the sector. The magnitude of the impacts of information technology is so huge that they affect the future direction and competitiveness of healthcare providers. Based on this, the healthcare organizations will need to undertake several measures to ensure that they remain competitive in the future. The healthcare organizations have to have a paradigm shift in the way they operate. Healthcare organizations, as well as healthcare professionals, need to realize that information technology will be the modus operandi in the future. Healthcare organizations and professionals will depend so much on information technology. Fundamentally, the healthcare professionals should realize that healthcare is an information intensive industry. The industry can be perceived as involving two main kinds of activities including medical procedures and information management (Masys 34). The medical activities depend so much on information management. For example, physicians depend on the patient medical records, test records, and current practices to provide effective medical services. In this regard, they cannot ignore the impact of information technology in their profession. After realizing the paradigm shift, the health professions will need to develop the capacity to adopt and use the various information technology tools that will enhance their competitiveness. Currently, one of the main barriers to adoption of information technologies in the industry is the lack of the knowledge and skills to use the technologies. This is especially the case with older generations of the health professionals who have been used to the traditional healthcare setting. This may require healthcare organizations to organize internal training programs to familiarize healthcare professionals with the new health information technologies. This would be more practical for the older generations of health professionals who can be trained on the job. However, for younger generations of health professionals, the training can be incorporated into the training curriculums. Health curriculums should incorporate training on information technologies that are relevant to the health sector. New students joining medical and nursing schools will have to undertake courses on information technology to equip them with the knowledge and skills that they will use in adopting and implementing the various information technologies available practically when they start working. It will become a common thing for students seeking admission into medical and nursing schools to select only those schools that provide courses on information technology. The employment criteria for healthcare professionals will also have to change. Healthcare organizations will have to vet new job applicants to ensure that they have undergone training on health information technologies. This will ensure that all new professionals entering the field have the necessary skills and knowledge to use health information technologies such as EHRs. Considering that the older generations are retiring from the healthcare industry, there is an opportunity for ensuring that all new professionals from the younger generations are able to use available technologies to enhance the competitiveness of healthcare organizations. Finally, healthcare organizations and professionals will have to seek opportunities for applying new information technologies constantly. Technology changes rapidly, which means that the information technologies used today may become obsolete in the near future. This implies that the training received by healthcare professionals at medical schools or on their jobs will not be adequate to ensure that they are competitive in the future. There will be need to identify new opportunities such as new health information technologies that will boost their competitiveness. In healthcare organizations, this may necessitated the elevation of IT departments to become core departments rather than supportive departments. With this elevation, resources allocation to the IT departments should be increased to ensure that they perform their roles more effectively. Moreover, considering the current challenges and barriers to adoption of information technologies in the industry, the healthcare organizations and professionals will need to identify potential solutions or alternatives. For example, healthcare organizations will need to take more proactive approaches in identifying government incentives for adoption of these technologies. Conclusion There is no doubt that information technology is sweeping across the healthcare industry globally. This is evident in the growing number of healthcare organizations that are adopting these new technologies such as EHRs, mobile medical services, and PCISs. While the adoption of such IT-based systems is still in the early stages, the adoption rate will grow continuously such that every healthcare organization will have to embrace these systems in the future. Failure to do so will mean the loss of competitiveness. It is crucial for healthcare organizations and professionals to realize the impact that IT is having on them and how they will be affected in the future. For instance, the healthcare industry should realize that there is a shift from physician-based care to patient-centred care where patients are playing more active roles. In this case, patients will have more powers in selecting the types of healthcare organizations and professionals to go to depending on how effective and convenient their services are. If patients find that a healthcare organization or professional has not implemented IT systems to improve service quality and delivery, they will opt for other alternatives. From a customer perspective, adoption of IT in the healthcare sector will be a major consideration because it will improve convenience when accessing healthcare. For example, a patient would rather contact his physician via email than incur the cost and time of visiting the physician’s place of work. Works Cited Ash, Joan S., Marc Berg, and Enrico Coiera. "Some unintended consequences of information technology in health care: the nature of patient care information system-related errors." Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 11.2 (2004): 104-112. Cresswell, K., & Sheikh, A. (2013). Organizational issues in the implementation and adoption of health information technology innovations: an interpretative review. International journal of medical informatics, 82(5), e73-e86. Currie, Wendy L., and David J. Finnegan. "The Policy-Practice Nexus of Electronic Health Records Adoption in the UK NHS." Journal of Enterprise Information Management 24.2 (2011): 146-70. 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