Photo courtesy of AAPA

11 August 2008

Computers have revolutionized most industries, and health care is no exception. In today’s health facilities, computers have become as common - and critical - as stethoscopes and tongue depressors.

Computers are used by:

• Medical assistants to schedule patient appointments
• Physician assistants to monitor patients’ vital statistics
• Doctors to aid in diagnosis
• Diagnostic medical sonographers to “see inside” the body
• Orthotists and prosthetists to accurately fit artificial limbs
• Bioinformatics experts to analyze genetic markers for disease
• Forensic toxicologists to identify foreign substances in human blood

The growth of “health information technology” isn’t surprising. Computers allow health workers to perform time-consuming tasks, such as recording patient notes, much faster.

Computers also perform many highly detailed functions – such as analyzing blood or comparing x-rays – more accurately than people can.

Computers make health care more effective and affordable

“Information technology (IT) has the potential to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health care,” according to the Medical Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac), which advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program.

In other words, computer technology enables health workers to provide better quality care more efficiently.

Using computerized technology:

• A clinical laboratory technician can enter the results of a blood test, and a doctor hundreds of miles away can review the results immediately.
• A pharmacist can review a patient’s medication history to avoid potential interactions with a new prescription.
• A nurse’s aide can be alerted by an automated sensor when a patient’s blood oxygen level suddenly falls.
• An emergency medical technician can transmit patient data to a physician, who can direct care remotely until the ambulance arrives at the hospital.
• A public health official can identify patients with similar symptoms to trace the source of a disease outbreak.

An essential new medical instrument

Today, nurses enter patient data into handheld computers. Doctors instantly transmit electronic prescriptions to the pharmacy. Advanced medical technologies including magnetic resonance imaging, laser eye surgery and digital radiography help health care providers accurately diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases.

Before long, nanotechnology and robotic surgery will be commonplace in hospitals.