Mobile Technology And Healthcare – The Union

Technology could be a boon or a bane, but depends. With healthcare its boon in a way that it has been able to speed up all the time taken around documentation of patients and the daily routines around patient care. On the flip side mobile technology could be a pain in the neck with updates popping up on your device every now and then. As per a medical expert Dr Bryan Vartabedian, director of community medicine for Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition division of a children’s hospital in Houstan, technology does play a critical role in healthcare. An avid healthcare blogger and his observations around technology and healthcare, he talks about a survey around the mandatory introduction to technology in USA since 2014. The survey states that in one of the most developed countries of the world USA, only about 59 percent of the doctors make use of EMR( electronic medical records) while for 20 percent, it’s a challenge. But, the people who have been using it do know that it is of vital importance and has made their life quite easier than before. One of the major benefits include instant access to patient records in the examination room using internet and entering patient information. Another common use as per survey states that over 85 percent doctors use it for seeking information on drugs and over 75 percent for diagnosis as well as treatment of specific conditions.

On the flip side there have been complaints of patients that they see the doctor staring at the screen and not examining them most of the time. Now, the solution apparently lies in using technology mindfully. It’s better to do one task at a time rather than multitasking as per him. A good idea is to tell the patient to wait until the patient information/ history is retrieved on the computer EMR and then just concentrate on attending the patient.

Mobile technology is certainly a boon for many like Dr Vartabedian but like every coin has a flip side to it, even technology does. But, the technology is here to stay and certainly the pros outnumber the cons.