Information technology (IT) has undeniably swayed every other industry across the globe by way of improving quality and reducing costs,
and healthcare is no exception. Nevertheless, given its history of
innovation, healthcare sector in US is
surprisingly averse to embracing IT for all these years. Not any longer. In fits
and starts, it is at long last catching up. Indeed, enhanced and
affordable healthcare is on the minds of many Americans these days. IT seems to
be the best way to deal with the ailing healthcare system. Thus, it could
no longer resist joining the global revolution driven by IT force.
Consequently, IT is on the verge of revolutionizing US healthcare
system. After decades of delay in adopting IT, it is now on the threshold of
transforming itself into an IT-driven entity. As part
of the unprecedented bid to revive the economy, US President Barack
Obama has drawn a massive plan to modernize healthcare. This calls for the
standardization and computerization of all the health records within five years. This
is poised to give a big boost to the quality of US healthcare system and in turn
decline the costs dramatically over the long run.
The more wired the hospital is, the better off its patients, with fewer
complications and lower costs, according to a large study conducted by Texas
hospitals. Unfortunately, very few hospitals and doctors' offices in US are wired,
and the country lags behind other developed economies in adopting such
systems. Only a mere 8% of the country's 5,000 hospitals and 17% of its 800,000
physicians presently use the kind of common computerized record-keeping
systems that Obama envisages for the whole economy. Dr. David Blumenthal,
Head of the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital
affirms, "We are at a very early stage in IT adoption, a very low stage compared
to other countries."
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