Digitized health information has created advancements in health care by transforming health outcomes, medicine, and biomedical science. Advancements in HIT include telemedicine, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, block-chain, digitally mediated diagnostics, and consumer-facing mobile health apps. These different forms of technology help to identify early risk factors and preventative care, when possible, while aiding in the creation in individualized treatment plans. HIT increases access to care, improves outcomes, and personalization, and has the potential to stay current with evolving compliance measures. Regulations such as HIPAA and the HITECH Act require healthcare organizations to adopt advanced technologies for securing patient data and increasing interoperability measures.
Delays in the adoption of IT in healthcare include financial barriers with high implementation and ongoing service cost of digitized records. Providers and organizations slow to change may experience slower integration and clinical workflows. In my opinion interoperability measures are the most challenging to uphold due to inconsistent standards which lack the unified framework needed for interoperability and the cohesion of integrating the old and new systems. The threat of data breaches and cybersecurity risks result from unauthorized access to patient information. Additionally, incorrect data entry, software glitches, and/or system malfunctions could lead to serious medical errors. Patient privacy concerns are prevalent with large databases and AI- driven analytics.
The future of HIT aims to improve patient care, access, and outcomes, but also comes with its challenges, particularly around security, privacy, and the slow adoption of new technologies. Regulatory frameworks will continue to evolve and address these challenges, and the ongoing efforts to mitigate risks will be essential to maximizing the benefits of HIT. I found it rather interesting the psychological aspect of why people are reluctant to change which also has delayed the advancement of healthcare technology. Humans are not typically passive recipients on the topic of change and need to be checked at the ‘micro-level’ or personal level. Leaders who stave off change limit an organization from meeting its full potential by creating doubt in followers. The ability to change and remain flexible is key to organizational success while allowing a greater potential to analyze the ‘big picture’. As it currently stands many organizations are implementing EHRs and other business intelligence tools have proven to be very successful in reducing medical errors and improving the continuity of care. The adoption of meaningful use is approximately half that of organizations only using EHRs on a basic level. It appears we will see a progression of improvement in the meaningful use department.