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Current Health Care Trends and Issues

Current Health Care Trends and Issues In the last few decades, no one would think of technological advancement in delivery and operational efficiencies that the nursing field has experienced.  The technological changes emanates from advancement in ICT that cause ubiquitous progress in treatment hence embracing new techniques aims at addressing new types of ailments ( Fichman et al., 2011).  The refinement of technology has also emanated from a need to minimize the service delivery time. For instance, telecommunication services such as telemedicine and the use of Cloud-based Electronic Health Records (EHR) has helped in creating efficiency in delivery care. The aim of this paper is to discuss various aspects of technological trends.

Current Technological Trends in Health Care

The change in health care technology is essential to serve patient at ease and minimize the operational errors hence leading to quality care. Hospitals are required to embrace the tech trends in order to promote service delivery, manage growth, and maintain profitability. There are various latest changes in healthcare because of advancement in technology. First, there is the application of connected medical devices. For instance, most health care facilities have invested in creating networked systems that can receive signals from automated pacemakers and insulin pumps that helps patient to monitor their health progress in real-time. The patient also has the opportunity to track their fitness and identifying vital signs that assists to prevent health unconscious situation ( Fichman et al., 2011).

Second, there is the use of electronic health records.  The advancement has resulted from an escalating need to have portable health records that will help patients in monitoring their health condition. The introduction of the initiative is likely to influence the changes in health delivery because it is adaptable, flexible, and user-friendly ( Fichman et al., 2011).  The records are maintained in cloud-based systems hence making it easily accessible through portable devices such as Smartphone, laptops, and tablets. The data is imperative because the stored data is  processed for use by both the providers and patients. Therefore, the data is an integral part in the preparation of care plans.

Current Technological Trends with What I Have Experienced In Practice

Advanced technology has contributed to various changes on how the health care providers conduct their duties. The use of smartphones and ipads has affected the way I deliver services to patients. The process has promoted easy storage and accessibility of data that relates to a particular patient and help in preparing care plans. In practice, I have been using a Smartphone to access medical information within a short period (Barbash & Glied, 2010). The process has improved efficiency and service quality because of Smartphone portability. The usage rate of Smartphone is ramping up and may replace the traditional methods of data storage.

How Technology has changed the Delivery of Nursing Care

The technology has contributed to various changes in delivery of care.  The adoption of advanced technologies have raised life expectancy rate and its incorporation has led to maximum service delivery. In addition, the technology has created a conducive work environment for providers and patients. There is also an increase in job satisfaction due to flexibility and ease of service delivery. The technology has created value to life by providing advanced machines that can handle patients at critical conditions (Barbash & Glied, 2010). The machines that contribute to value addition include delivery robots, biomedical device integration, and wireless communication.

Benefits and Disadvantages of the Current Technological Presence in Health Care

Current technologies have contributed to various advantages based on service delivery and working environment. First, it has led to efficiency of care delivery. For instance, the use of Smartphone has simplified the process of record keeping and accessibility of data on real-time.  In addition, the technology has contributed to the development of care connectors that help in the storage of information relating to prescription details, keeping treatment calendars, timely diagnosis, and tracking medical compliance (Barbash  & Glied, 2010).  The disadvantage of technology in health care is that machine failure may lead to severe damage to the patient’s body.

Changes and innovations

The continuous advancement in technology has influenced various facets of care delivery based on application of advanced equipments, medication, and efficiency in the management of healthcare records. The ability to have accurate and up to date information is an imperative aspect that assists the health care providers to serve customers at ease hence reducing the hospital-related mortality rate. Therefore, advancement in technology assists meeting the escalating changes in the field of care (Agarwal et al., 2010). I predict that a continuous advancement in technology will simplify the roles and responsibilities of nurses by addressing complex medical conditions. There will be also a substantial retrenchment because only few numbers of medical providers will be needed and the machine will play most roles.

Health conditions of some people have led them to be technologically dependent.  For instance, some patients depends on the following equipment to survive; Home Oxygen Equipment, Tracheostomy, Gastrostomy, and Metered Dose Inhaler (Agarwal et al., 2010).  Therefore, the technology takes hands on the aspects of service delivery because more advanced methods are being developed over time to meet the escalating medical changes. The innovation will cause a high reliance on machine to deliver nursing services hence reducing the need for nurses in health care facilities. My favorite new technology relates to electronic health records because it leads to efficiency in data management.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the technological trend in the delivery of nursing services has positive and negative impacts. The changes contribute to the advancement of service delivery and maximize quality of care. The technology has created a conducive work environment for providers and patients. There is also an increase in job satisfaction due to flexibility and ease of service delivery. Despite having these advantages, various drawbacks emanate from machine failure hence causing medical errors, lack of confidentiality, and causing inefficiencies in service delivery.