New Platforms in Healthcare Technology

Health information technology is not less than a boom in the field of healthcare. Health technology significantly improves the quality of healthcare, increases patient satisfaction and safety, reduces number of medical errors, and also fortifies the interaction between patients and healthcare providers. In a 2010 survey titled Technology, medical tests 'changing the face of health care', Amy Bernstein, the report's lead author, a health scientist for the National Center for Health Statistics said that, “Technologies can be very helpful, there are newer and better technologies all the time, and they're changing the face of health care and practice patterns". To markup the value of E-Care Management, health information technology plays a vital role in improving healthcare delivery in America.

This aid has a repertoire of offerings to help patients and doctors to critically analyze more in the field of medicine. However, with the rapid increase in usage of Electronic Medical Records (EMRs), the creation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and the rise of health information exchanges, the delivery of medical care became more trouble-free, study said. The following technologies are also considered to be a part of health technology, study said:

1. Drugs: e.g., antibiotics, ACE inhibitors, aspirin, beta-blockers, antibiotics,
2. Biologics: gene therapies, antibodies
3. Devices: e.g., pacemakers, CT scanners
4. Diagnostic tests: e.g. DNA fecal test for colorectal cancer, genome sequencing
5. Medical and surgical procedures: e.g., psychotherapy, coronary angiography
6. Support systems: e.g., electronic patient record systems, telemedicine systems,
7. Organizational and managerial systems: e.g., cholesterol management program, billing and accounting.

All above stated paradigms are unique contribution in healthcare IT, since they can easily:

• Prevent
• Screen
• Diagnose
• Treat
• Rehabilitate 
• Assist to reduce errors

This is not the end, there's still room for improvement, says Lloyd Michener, director of the Duke Center for Community Research. "It's a call for accelerated efforts that will build partnerships between academic medical centers and public health groups in order to address some of our persistent health issues”, stated in a survey. More progress in medical technologies will endeavor better healthcare delivery with improved life expectancy and quality of life.

Internet simplifies a Doctor-Patient Relationship

Information technology era has come up with many dynamic changes. It effectively settles the doctor-patient relationship too. Users generally prefer Internet to seek online health information instead of asking friends and going through reference books, offline sources or even health news reports. Internet is one of the primary concerns that provide all the information about health and related issues. Majority patients go with online searches to handle their medical problems not because they mistrust their doctors, as now they believe that personal control over their illness can be figured out very easily.

Patients will never suffer from any problem, while setting their medical appointments with the doctors. Personal Health records (PHR) is one of the unique contributions that provides patients an online access to get their past and current health information directly from their doctor’s website. With PHR, patients get information about their personal assessments, medications, general allergies, immunizations and procedures too.

PHR is completely free and reliable. Patients can get their personal online portal from which they can record, track and even save their important health related information at one secure online place. With the improved workflow and efficiency of a practice, free technical support is also provided where needed. Patients can easily manage their personal health records like demographic information, appointment history, health records, lab tested results, payment reports, outstanding balances and claim history, available 24/7 from any Internet-ready computer. Level of trust between a doctor and a patient gets more compact since online information-seeking is higher among the patients who get all the information from Internet.

Doctors play a dynamic role in supporting online health challenges. They need to be attentive and alert to provide the same degree of reassurance, their patients expects from them. Direct communication through the patient-doctor communication module and viewing direct comments from the personal providers strengthen a Doctor-patient relationship. Moreover, majority patients feel much comfortable to get any sort of online information from their doctors. This has also developed trust and confidence among the patients, who prefer online health solutions.

PHR allows online scheduling, from which patients can simply schedule their own appointments directly through the practice’s website. An ideal PHR holds an incredible ability, since it can easily get and assess the information from a patient's lab results or monitoring devices; store a patient's remarks about the physical and social environment and link with a doctor’s electronic health record (EHR). PHRs can also make health care more reasonable by urging avoidance and wellness, and by reforming better care delivery.

Personal Health Record (PHR)