Tech Topic Connection: Healthcare Industry

 Hello Everyone,

In this post, I will discuss how the healthcare industry connects to the fundamentals of information technology covered in TEC101. I will explain how the healthcare industry relates to the concepts of information technology and computer science, including the history of computers and how computers operate. Applications and software play a significant role in the healthcare industry, including database and database management. Also, I will illustrate how the basic concepts of network architecture, management, and security influence the healthcare industry. 

 

As mentioned in another previous post, Computers in the workplace: Healthcare Industry, computers have become essential and critical to the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry works in conjunction with information technology. Mechanical ventilators, heart rate monitoring, tracking patients’ appointments, tracking staff schedules, and keeping personal information private and away from bad actors are just a few examples of how the healthcare industry connects to the fundamentals of information technology.   Consequently, Information technology has been instrumental to the advances in health care. As the overall improvement in technology increases, so does healthcare capabilities.  

 

Many different functions within the healthcare industry rely on technology.   Indeed, most machines that connect to an electrical outlet rely, in one way or another, on technology. Many hospital and clinic machines rely entirely on a modern computer system’s hardware components and functions. For example, something as familiar as an x-ray or ultrasound uses programming languages to interpret the images. As mentioned in the scholarly article,  Healthcare Technology Assessment for Radiology Devices, “This study proposes a program to assist a clinical engineer in assessing a large variety of radiological devices (Ultrasound, x-Ray, Mammography, Digital Radiography (DR), and Computed Radiology (CR) using various Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Methods.” (Nabil et al, 2022). These radiological devices are programmed using different programming languages. According to Glen Rodriguez from the Nacional Engineering University of Peru, “C++ would be the most obvious option, but not the cheaper (in terms of programmer hours). If you are familiar with OpenGL, you could use Java or Python too.” (2017). The healthcare industries use programs written in different programming languages to better care for patients. Also, although a programmer can use different types of language to program healthcare machines and hardware components, the most important thing is to do it accurately so the devices can work as expected. Making major mistakes can cost a person’s life. A programmer’s job is to create a program that executes and can translate the machine 1s and 0s output into human-readable and understandable results. And this is just one of many ways the healthcare industry relies on modern computer systems and programming.

 

A deeper analysis of application software’s role in healthcare shows that software is vital to the industry. According to a scholarly article, Evaluation of the Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Towards Using Evidence-Based Medicine Software in the Health Care Settings, “Problems of excess paperwork, delays in approving services, arguments, and claims of over-servicing may arise during healthcare settings. This is perceived as unwanted for patients and health care professionals and costly to the health care system.” (Elghriani et al, 2022).  Healthcare software should help alleviate these problems. In a personal interview with an employee of a health organization that was ranked the best hospital by the U.S. News and World Reports, the employee confirmed that the software used at the hospital was Epic Systems and added, “The software is always failing.” (E. Bautista, personal communication, January 29, 2023).   Epic Systems is a privately held healthcare software. This software alone has over 75% of patient’s medical records in the United States and less than 4% worldwide in 2022. The software was founded in 1979, and their statement is, “Epic develops software to help people get well, help people stay well, and help future generations be healthier.” (Epic, 2023). Although the software is not perfect, keeping records of millions of patients in a secured database makes this software essential to the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry is also heavily regulated regarding data and database security.

In conclusion, the healthcare industry has come to rely massively on technology. Technology plays an essential role in the healthcare industry. In addition, we have seen that network architecture, software, database management such as SQL and Access, and IT security influence every aspect of the healthcare industry. And government regulations such as HIPPA ensure that the healthcare industry, in conjunction with information technology, keeps patients’ data safe and secure. Health is the most crucial and top priority in everyone’s life. Therefore, the healthcare industry, combined with information technology efforts, is helping keep people around the world healthy.

 

 

 

References:

 

Apps, G. linkF. T. P. E. O., January 15, 2023, & Comment, P. a. (n.d.). It careers. IT Careers. Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://itcareersbybenny.blogspot.com/

 

Elghriani, A. M., Saad, R. M., & Maatuk, A. M. (2022). Evaluation of the Attitudes of Healthcare Professionals Towards Using Evidence-Based Medicine Software in the Health Care Settings. 2022 International Conference on Engineering & MIS (ICEMIS), Engineering & MIS (ICEMIS), 2022 International Conference On, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEMIS56295.2022.9914364

Epic. (2023) About Us. Retrieved from https://www.epic.com/about

Historical. CMS. (n.d.). https://www.cms.gov/research-statistics-data-and-systems/statistics-trends-and-reports/nationalhealthexpenddata/nationalhealthaccountshistorical#:~:text=U.S.%20health%20care%20spending%20grew,spending%20accounted%20for%2018.3%20percent

Nabil, A. M., Saleh, N., El-Desoky, M., & Shabaan, A. (2022). Healthcare Technology Assessment for Radiology Devices. 2022 International Symposium on Multidisciplinary Studies and Innovative Technologies (ISMSIT), Multidisciplinary Studies and Innovative Technologies (ISMSIT), 2022 International Symposium On, 608–612. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISMSIT56059.2022.9932769

Rodriguez, Glen. (2017). Re: What programming language should I use for a medical image application?. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/post/What-programming-language-should-I-use-for-a-medical-image-application/5a1e39d9f7b67ede9b18715f/citation/download.

Vahid, F., & Lysecky, S. (2019). Computing technology for all. zyBooks.