Change is hard, but the future is bright

Let's face it, technology in healthcare is not going anywhere. Health tech has been taken to a whole new level with the science of Health Informatics and the Health Information Technology as virtual healthcare evolves.

Electronic health record systems and it’s information are made more available to individual to view at any point, benefiting the member and any healthcare practitioner it may be shared with. Many individuals can access personal or family members health record if app accessible. Records are available to you even if out of normal geographical location, for example, if travelling out of state. Any injuries, or medical attention that is given outside of the normal scope of care can be documented and shared with home care team.

Contacting the medical provider is more personal because you can have a one-on-one virtual conversation not just by video but by instant messaging. Telehealth video visits can be a positive use of time if more is available to care for the patient rather than wait for the patient.

Virtual care is beneficial in rural settings because transportation or accessibility to care may be limited. HealthIT.gov suggests increasing the access to EHR in rural hospitals can improve the quality of care, ultimately resulting in better patient and provider outcomes (2018). Government funding can help reduce disparities by allowing more resources to those individuals or locations that are limited. ONC and partners support implementation by funding health and economic development to improve quality of patient care (2018). Access to EHR in rural communities depends on adoption rates and implementation of such platforms. Incentives placed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), for example, help increase rates of EHR platform access within hospitals (2018).

The ability track any means of medical care is something I’d personally see as most valuable. Such as tracking immunization records that are organized and easily accessible for future travel, or general prevention. From the provider perspective, I think it’s great that it puts more responsibility on the patient’s attention to their care; for instance, to keep track of health visits, medication refills, lab results that are due. Less responsibility is left to the provider to remember details of the medical record, or to take the time to search through paper chart for more information. Overall, easier access to care is available when utilizing electronic health care platforms from both the provider and patient perspective.

Works Cited:

HealthIT.gov. (September 27, 2018) Resources for critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals. Retrieved July 10, 2022, from https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-health-care-settings/resources-critical-access-hospitals-and-small-rural-hospitals