HCM307-0704A-01 The Health Care Industry - Phase 3 Discussion Board 2 Essay

HCM307-0704A-01 The Health Care Industry - Phase 3 Discussion Board 2 - Essay Example They found that the heavy costs of creating duplicate paperwork and sending it in several directions caused lost records, lost cost control and missed patient appointments. It’s a time-waster: Physicians have less and less time for patients. Is it going to take longer to work with these records than jotting down a few notes? While it still takes some learning, modern systems using PDA’s (hand-held devices), electronic pens and voice recognition (for some practices, like radiology) are well sorted-out and ready for prime time. Think about the time we’re wasting today: how long does it take to get a patient’s radiology films, his or her records from previous visits, and labs? How many times have you had to reach for the prescription pad and look up drug interactions? All of that can be handled from the PDA, including electronic transmission of the prescription to the pharmacy. It’s difficult to implement: It certainly requires changes on everyone’s part. A few years ago, implementing EMR with physicians meant installing PC’s on every desk, and requiring the physician to be tied to a chair while he/she laboriously put in all the needed patient data. Some physicians complained at having to learn new terms and change their workflow. Technology has become simpler and more intuitive to use. The ‘heavy lifting’ is done in the back, through servers and communicators. For physicians, the system is well thought-out and fits into our routine. There are so many vendors out there, how can they communicate? IT suppliers have been talking to one another through HL-7 protocols for years. The advent of new, open technologies like Java and XML have made it possible for different systems to talk to one another. Those horror stories about DICOM radiology images not blending with patient records? It’s all history now. And finally, â€Å"that sounds fine, but I’ll let my nurse do it.† The nurse and PA can certainly