COMPUTER IN HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION
The advent of managed health care greatly increased the competitive nature of the health care industry. No longer is it enough to offer low-cost health care, but high-quality care must also go along with the low-cost for health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to remain competitive. The advent of technology plays a vital role in adding value to health care services in two ways. One, it helps lower costs because it improves productivity and efficiency levels. Two, it adds value to health care by enabling a higher level of service to be provided to patients. From the womb to the grave, technology impacts every aspect of modern health care and health care service. One aspect of health care that is being revolutionized by technology is patient records information. As such, many physical tasks are eliminated in the administration of patient health care which are time consuming, difficult to access, and often cumbersome for the health care provider. This analysis will discuss new kinds of technology which are replacing traditional patient “paper charts” in a manner that enables health care providers to offer higher levels of care to the patient.
The patient chart is basically the patient’s health history as well as a pool of personal information about the individual, from date of birth to insurance provider. However, in an effort to cut costs and improve the level of patient care, health care providers are turning to technology to eliminate many of the repetitive and time-consuming tasks compiling, storing and retrieving such information demands of the health care provider. New kinds of software are being developed that allow health care providers to cut costs and improve care because of increased efficiency, ease of access, and improved productivity where patient charts are concerned. Mash Health Care Systems is piloting a new type of software like this, known as Media Manager. ...