Using Information Technology to Improve Health Care

With technology becoming widespread in hospitals, and clinics, information technology is being utilized in numerous ways to improve the delivery of healthcare, safety of patients and the relationship between healthcare providers and patients.

Patient records and data management have been the most significant use of IT in the healthcare sector. Earlier healthcare professionals would have loads of paper charts with patient records. Often, they would get damaged, lost or be misinterpreted, but with IT stepping in, tracking patient records have become more manageable and secure. From a patient’s test results to vital signs, a virtual chart makes reading, sharing and checking the information against other databases easier too.

Apart from patient records, the intersection of IT and healthcare sectors has opened an entire discipline called nursing informatics. This interdisciplinary links the practice of nursing with the management of IT and it is here where data and science meet. This field seems to be growing popular as the demand for technology is increasing. In fact, nursing informatics is saving more lives. According to a survey by Wood Johnson Foundation, nurses using IT were more likely to find medical errors, spent less time in documentation, hence, giving more attention to the patient instead. And, as more people are looking for quality care, information technology in the healthcare sector sees a rise due to its ability to track patients and improve healthcare.

Every year healthcare IT roles – medical coding specialists, healthcare information engineers, clinical IT consultants, healthcare systems analysts – are growing. And as healthcare continues to grow, speed, volume, and quality of service in care centers will continue to be in demand.