IT For Business Strategy Organization In Healthcare Industry

Impact of IT in Healthcare

Discuss about the IT for Business Strategy Organization.

The actual role of information technology is to provide the quality to the healthcare of the patients, which is growing rapidly over the years. Information technology is penetrating into the healthcare industry increasingly. Due to this, patients and physicians are facing the advantages of on-demand access to medical information how, when and wherever it is needed. The IT strategy practice facilitates the information flow within the healthcare organization (Anthony et al., 2013). It is making this healthcare organization as a quality differentiator among other healthcare providers. Traditionally, it was observed that, the investment of IT into the healthcare sector used to be low than other service sectors. This results into a number of issues for the healthcare providers. The issues are appearing from all aspects. The system is in a need of modernization with help of software systems to share the data. Without help in expansion of growth, the infrastructures of the health organizations are hindering the situation. The programs are not aligned with clinical workflows optimally. Older IT systems are struggling rapidly to provide an integrated information flow with the evolving expectation of improved healthcare systems (Devaraj et al., 2013). This health care system is designed around provider needs rather than around patients needs. In this way, both the medical staffs and patients are rapidly experiencing advanced health care technology, which is above their expectations.

Impact of IT in healthcare:

Information technology is applied in healthcare systems in different aspects. These are described below:

Equipment:

IT has various impacts in the equipments required for healthcare. Major of the healthcare equipments are controlled through the monitor. Electronic medical reports are generated due to IT in healthcare. This helps the physician to keep the record of accomplishment of the medical history of the patient for diagnosis and treatment. All the developed countries have adopted this modernization (Yeow & Huat Goh, 2015). This adoption will be improved more in the future. Due to the revolutionary change in the IT healthcare, a doctor from thousands miles away can assess, treat and diagnose a patient. Due to this system, millions of people are able to get this medical facility in the world. It also covers the people in the remote areas. It also provides quality healthcare in reasonable price (Cresswell & Sheikh, 2013).

Costs:

The research has shown that 30% of the 1.2 trillion spent on healthcare is due to clinical inefficiency and G&A costs (Kellermann & Jones, 2013). The IT is lowering down the costs substantially by streamlining and streamlining back office administrative processes of providers and plans (Turan & Palvia, 2014). Due to this, the patient will frequently send the medical information rather than hospital visit. Saliva and blood analyzers will be available in the community, which will cut down the office visit.

Usage of IT in Healthcare

Planning:

Now days, any planning of launching new treatment or equipment is announcing through internet. IT is saving the time of application (Smith & Koppel, 2014). IT is helping the healthcare system in managing the plans, announcing the upcoming plans.

Usage of IT in healthcare:

IT is affecting the healthcare industry both internally and externally. Internally, the employees and staffs are benefited from this. The staffs including physicians and nurses can record the data in their software, immediately after diagnosis. This will help them to upgrade the medical condition in the future. The nurses also can monitor the physical condition of the patients with the help of IT integrated tools (Bardhan & Thouin, 2013). Externally patients and other medical suppliers are also benefited from this.  Patients are informed with their medical reports after staying in home. Due to various IT healthcare tools, the patients can do the needful tests, which should be done for diagnosis. Due to the advanced IT, the medical suppliers and other staffs also help in this medical industry (Yeow & Huat Goh, 2015). The medical suppliers give the information about latest updates in the IT healthcare to the physicians and get their opinion.

Healthcare IT offers advantages in many levels. They are given below:

Reduced paperwork:

Electronic healthcare record is such a record, where all the medical information of the patient will be stored in an IT device, like tablet, laptop etc. Traditionally, the data were recorded manually in the paper, which gives rise to lots of errors while evaluating (Cresswell et al., 2013). However, due to this device, the records will be updated in the device. Thus, the paperwork is reduced.

Reduced Malpractice Claims:

Research shows that due to the advanced IT healthcare system, the number of malpractice claims have fallen from 49 to 2 in the medical practices (Lee et al., 2015).

Rapid results:

Before, the lab technician used to get the samples of the patient In general conventional method. It used to take a long time to process the result and to present in front of the doctor (Kellermann & Jones, 2013). However, with the help of this electronic data transfer, the technician gets the data within a fraction of second and they can send the results much faster than before.

Sensors and Wearable technology:

As per the transparency in Market Research report, the market of medical tools is increasing at the rate of 16.4 percent a year. These sensors and wearable medical tools help to get the medical data, which is the aim and actual purpose in healthcare. An example of this type of sensor is a bandage, which can inform about the infection in the wound through changing in skin pH level (Park, 2013). An older patient can send alert to the care provider with the help of this sensor within a fraction of second. There are many wearable tech products, which utilize multiple digital health sensors. These sensors are composed of ambient sensors and other body worn sensors, which are integrated into sensor networks. A smart sensible chip is inserted in these devices. Therefore, the healthcare people get to know about medical information with these data points. The main target of the wearable technology in healthcare is to make profitable and big market by 2020.

An auditing of a patient used to take 3.9 hours in paper auditing system previously.  Due to this healthcare IT system, this number has reduced to 1.4 hours (Cresswell & Sheikh, 2013).

Time saving:

According to the research, 82% healthcare professionals are agreed with the fact that electronic health records reduce efforts and save the time (Reis et al., 2013).

Risk factors:

After all the IT healthcare completely depends upon IT. Due to this reason, IT hazards come out from these systems (Bardhan & Thouin, 2013). Certain hazards are described below:

Alarm hazards:

Alarm hazards are creating problem for the admitted patients in the hospitals. Due to the alarm hazards, the alarm is ringing at any time in the day (Kohli et al., 2012). This is putting both the patient and the clinical staffs in the danger. The emergency value of a patient is being minimized because of this hazard.

Errors in Data entry:

Sometimes business associate and clinical staffs are entering wrong data of the patients into the devices. This is putting the patient in the danger (Grande, 2014). Because of this wrong information, the patients are getting wrong treatment, which is a disaster in the medical industry.

Complications in robotic surgery:

Now day’s maximum surgeries are done through robotic method. It is completely IT involved. So many accidents can occur at mid of the surgery (Wachter, 2012). It put the life of the patient in danger. Due to lack of proper training or system hazards, these types of accidents occur.

Like any other innovations, the introduction of IT in the healthcare has both advantages and disadvantages. The healthcare community is affected from both the ways (Cresswell & Sheikh, 2013).The researchers are focusing on minimizing these hazards. The devices cannot be operated automatically. It needs the human force to drive. Therefore, the manual operator has to be very much careful about the devices. The devices have to complexity free (Yeow & Huat Goh, 2015). It will help both the physicians and technicians to understand the operating system of the devices. For example, the robotic surgery hazards can be minimized with proper training. Other recommendation will be proper training to the users.

Conclusion:

While everyone knows about the impact of the information technology in the healthcare, but still the aim of the complexity management is not achieved through implementing the health care information only. Other managerial and clinical interventions need to accompany the deployment of this technology. Operational and clinical processes must be standardized and re-engineered in such away, that that the activities, which can make the things more complex, will be erased. Certain reward systems like reimbursement reform are necessary that will provide the revenue and incentives to offset the costs of re-engineering and technology. Finally, the leaders must guide and motivate the efforts to modify the functions of the organizations. In health care systems, the complexity should be managed to effect material improvement. Information technology is a crucial contributor in this management.

References:

Anthony, D., Campbell, A. T., Candon, T., Gettinger, A., Kotz, D., Marsch, L. A., … & Johnson, M. E. (2013). Securing information technology in healthcare. IEEE security & privacy, 11(6), 25.

Bardhan, I. R., & Thouin, M. F. (2013). Health information technology and its impact on the quality and cost of healthcare delivery. Decision Support Systems, 55(2), 438-449.

Cresswell, K. M., Bates, D. W., & Sheikh, A. (2013). Ten key considerations for the successful implementation and adoption of large-scale health information technology. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 20(e1), e9-e13.

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.

Devaraj, S., Ow, T. T., & Kohli, R. (2013). Examining the impact of information technology and patient flow on healthcare performance: A Theory of Swift and Even Flow (TSEF) perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 31(4), 181-192.

Grande, E. (2014). Information Technology and Home Healthcare: The New Frontier in Home Care. Home Healthcare Now, 32(3), 194-195.

Kellermann, A. L., & Jones, S. S. (2013). What it will take to achieve the as-yet-unfulfilled promises of health information technology. Health Affairs,32(1), 63-68.

Kohli, R., Devaraj, S., & Ow, T. T. (2012). Does information technology investment influence a firm’s market value? A case of non-publicly traded healthcare firms. MIS Quarterly, 36(4), 1145-1163.

Lee, T., Adnan, M., Bajwa, W., Ball, M. J., Ballen, S., Baur, C., … & Deering, M. J. (2015). Information Technology for Patient Empowerment in Healthcare. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

Reis, S., Visser, A., & Frankel, R. (2013). Health information and communication technology in healthcare communication: The good, the bad, and the transformative. Patient education and counseling, 93(3), 359-362.

Smith, S. W., & Koppel, R. (2014). Healthcare information technology’s relativity problems: a typology of how patients’ physical reality, clinicians’ mental models, and healthcare information technology differ. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(1), 117-131.

Turan, A. H., & Palvia, P. C. (2014). Critical information technology issues in Turkish healthcare. Information & Management, 51(1), 57-68.

Wachter, R. M. (2012). Understanding patient safety. McGraw Hill Medical.

Yeow, A., & Huat Goh, K. (2015). Work harder or work smarter? Information technology and resource allocation in healthcare processes. Mis Quarterly, 39(4).