Technology Is Drastically Changing Healthcare Delivery

Technological developments have played a role in improving the efficiency of healthcare system and making it more cost effective.

Technological breakthroughs in medical science are talked about and reviewed, and make news. But not much is known to the general public about the advances in the technological backbone behind the running of a modern hospital.

While breakthroughs in medical science have enhanced life expectancy, quality of life, and diagnostic and treatment options, there have also been many developments in technology that have changed the way hospitals function and thereby, a patient ’s experience when he or she visits a modern hospital today. These developments have played a role in improving the efficiency of healthcare system and making it more cost effective.

Older systems had many problems. Some of these included difficulty in maintaining and accessing medical records, errors due to handwriting issues, prescription errors and importantly, space constraints in maintaining old archives of medical records. Manual entries and retrieval made the entire process time-consuming. Accessing any data that was required was a time consuming affair. Similarly, reaching out to personnel in time of need or an emergency was difficult. Filing of physical records was also time consuming and inefficient leading to wastage of time. It is in these areas that technology has come in, improving matters for patients as well as healthcare managers.