Chapter 10. Modern medicine: How tech will transform healthcare delivery{0}
I read an article entitled Modern medicine: How tech will transform healthcare delivery. It was talking about how technology like mobile devices and new wireless networks will change the way that we do medicine.
The term ‘mHealth’ is used to describe how mobile health systems can help healthcare providers take care of their patients remotely. They use things like videoconferencing to have meetings with patients and discuss things with them.
Another term that is being thrown around is ‘Telemedicine’. It includes “virtual training, mentoring and collaboration among healthcare professionals, remote patient monitoring and electronic medical records filing, access and sharing” (Nespola, 2009).
The five top wireless applications (in the medical field) are appointment scheduling, patient information, patient tracking, patient records, and patient monitoring. This closely matches some of the topics in chapter ten of Business Driven Information Systems. It looks like the hospitals and medical field could really use a good content management system. It is all about having tools to manage all aspects of information in a collaborative environment.
The point of the article was that these technologies being used in modern medicine can help bring the costs way down. People in rural areas will no longer actually have to visit a doctor for much of their needs. A lot can be accomplished through videoconferencing. It goes beyond that as well. Doctors can consult specialists using the technologies in a timely manner. The point is that medical information, patient records, etc. need to be shared using superior technology. It can help bring down costs in this time of healthcare crisis.
Nespola, R. P. (2009) Modern Medicine: How tech will transform healthcare delivery, CNNMoney.com. Retrieved November 5, 2009 from http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/08/12/modern-medicine-how-tech-will-transform-healthcare-delivery/