The constant technological developments in healthcare have rescued innumerable lives and enhanced the quality of people’s lives. Technology has not only changed the life of patients, but has also had a major effect on the medical processes and the work of healthcare professionals (Banova, 2018). Here, I will look at the technological innovation and the benefits and disadvantages of these technological developments.
The replacement of medical paper by the Electronic Health Records (EHRs) has been a great improvement in the healthcare (Banova, 2018). Healthcare professionals such as medical assistants and registered nurses are affected by the use of technology. Nurses and technicians put personal information of patients such as vital signs, weight and test results in a central system. Furthermore, EHRs is used to schedule appointments, update patient’s records and sending medical claims. The EHRs has brought many benefits to healthcare. For instance, EHRs lets physicians know when a problem occurs to patients such as allergies or an intolerance to certain medicines. The EHRs can also be found in different medical facilities. Therefore, doctors who encounter unconscious patients will have easy access to their information.
Nevertheless, there is also the risk of medical hacking (Riley, 2015). In 2015, for example, the largest healthcare data theft occurred. The data of 80 million patients and employees from the second-largest healthcare insurance business Anthem in the United States had been stolen by hackers. Their names and addresses were only stolen and no further information. This makes you question the safety of smaller practices. Because if it is possible that you can hack one of the largest companies with measures to protect itself, what about local clinics? The obtained patients’ data can be used to make fake ID’s to acquire drugs or send false medical claims to insurance companies (Banova, 2018).
Regardless of the apparent threat of technology, the positive effects override the negative impacts on human beings. We should improve the safety of our system for hackers to overcome this hacking problem.
References
Bancova, B. (2018). The Impact of Technology on Healthcare. Retrieved on October 13, 2018 from https://www.aimseducation.edu/blog/the-impact-of-technology-on-healthcare/
Riley, C. (2015). Insurance giant Anthem hit by massive data breach. Retrieved on October 13, 2018 from https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/anthem-insurance-hack-data-security/
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