Technology Reflections: Where we are and want to go
A brief look back to another industry (retail) lets the healthcare industry see into its future and beyond. Think about how much technology we use in our everyday life without even realizing it. Cell phones, laptops, our automobiles, email, facebook, online bill paying and the list continues on and on.
Remember back to when the retail stores particularly the grocery stores computerized. Bar scans came about and replaced the price tag on items. The public was outraged because no one knew what the price of an item was anymore. The public had to learn to read the store shelf pricing. Many times when you got to the checkout lane the price was different than what you thought. There was a lot of frustration for not only the clerks performing the tasks, but the public as well. We watched every item ring (scan) because the public did not trust the computers.
Time has gone on and now this is just normal business. Sadly enough the healthcare industry is in the transition phase of total computerization as the retailers were many years ago. As healthcare continues to take the computer path the future will be ubiquitous health (McGongle & Mastrain). Right now we are in the growing pains of health care informatics, which like the retailers is very frustrating for health care staff and the patients.
Millions of dollars are being made available by state and local governments to facilitate informatics into the healthcare industry. Health IT is efficient and cost effective so this transition must take place (Nursezone-Devices & Technology). As we continue to move forward ease and speed will move healthcare to our fingertips. Centralized monitoring is already at a hospital near you wherever you are. Physicians in the near future will have all your medical information available from their remote laptop or PDA. Lab monitored draws will become as easy as blood glucose monitors are now and in the privacy of your home. Colonoscopies may become as easy as swallowing a computer chip capsule. Telemedicine will expand into home health care reaching many patients that now struggle to receive healthcare. Medical monitoring devices will become smaller and more precise.
There is no way to completely see into the future of healthcare informatics, but the future looks very bright. We are just in the infancy and already see many things advancing.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2009). Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge (pp. 405-409). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
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