Video Reflection
14 years ago
Monday, February 9, 2009
Health Technology
The article I was reviewing dealt with expanding health information technology in hospitals. It was not only focused on the large complex hospitals, but also on the smaller local hospitals. The basis of my article was that hospitals were adding computerized technology to decrease the risk of error and provide better care to the patients. Things like computerized physician order entry, computerized decision support systems and barcoding for medication administration were all being introduced into the hospitals to improve the quality of care. Not only did they believe that these new systems would improve care, they also thought that the efficiency of the hospital would increase. Today it is certain that we are living in a technological based society. Everything is run on technology now, but 50 years ago it was not. Thinking about all of these computer based programs being introduced into the hospitals you have to wondering if the elderly people are going to be able to figure them out. Young adults have been around computers for long enough that they know the basic functions of them. Older adults, or people without access to computers are not going to be as competent with the computer systems and they are going to struggle. So are these technologies really improving efficiency? For many people YES but for many others NO.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I think this brings up a valid point about the speed of our growth in the world. People definitely are not trained to be competent with computers and things in many cases. Just today, at the University no less, I overheard two somewhat women in an office trying to read a lunch menu for D.P. Dough online and saying things like, "well, how did you get there?" "Oh, see that list? I couldn't find that page. Now what did you click on to see that?" "Are you still in Wisconsin??" and on and on and on. And that was just for ordering a calzone! Older people are definitely at a disadvantage when we quickly replace technology with new, more efficient methods without giving people time to learn and adjust. It's not that they can't learn--I think it's that information isn't given to them in a way they understand at a pace or personal level they might need.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great example of the disparities of age and education interfering with modern advances in technology. With this specific example, I think the pros that this new technology brings to health care outweigh the cons by a noticeable degree by improving efficiency and decreasing error. I think one way to help bridge the digital divide in this situation is to make sure the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other professionals are very well-trained and educated on the new equipment/software. They should be able to clearly explain to their older patients and/or patients without much exposure to technology how exactly the equipment is improving the exam/test. The patients should be very comfortable in knowing what is going on and very capable of evaluating the results with the clear explanation of the medical professional.
ReplyDelete