The term “healthcare IT,” short for “healthcare information technology,” describes the wide range of electronic resources that allow cutting-edge medical care today. It includes the hardware, software, networks, data, and foundational structure that facilitates collaboration among healthcare professionals, patients, government agencies, and insurance companies. 

Importance of Healthcare IT

Clinics, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations run upon data, making IT essential. These businesses employ IT infrastructure to collect, organize, and apply that data to make precise diagnoses, set treatment strategies, and improve patient outcomes. 

Technology is transforming healthcare. The entire sector is experiencing a digital transition toward connected technologies that speed and improve caregiver and patient information sharing and utilization. Because medical data and its utilization are so crucial, a federal law was passed in 2009 to encourage digital transformation in healthcare businesses via the HITECH Act.

The HITECH Act not only incentivized hospitals and insurance companies to electronically store health information and expand access but also came with legal standards and expectations for the safekeeping, dissemination, and utilization of such information. That’s because the risks of breaches of security rise in tandem with the spread of digital data and the number of people who have access to it. 

Patients’ private information is often included in healthcare databases, making it a tempting target for cybercriminals. A recent article claims that 2017 was the worst year yet for cyberattacks in the healthcare industry. Forty-five million patients’ private information was breached in 2021, an increase from 34 million the year before. With 14 million people impacted in 2018, it’s apparent that the problem is rapidly expanding.  

Example

Healthcare IT relies on routers and switches, networks, servers, database servers, antivirus programs, and qualified people to implement and operate that infrastructure. It also comprises specialized gear and software to help caretakers and make digital information delivery, preservation, and utilization fast and secure:

• EHRs Electronic prescriptions data and solutions
• Individual electronic medical records
• Interrelated networks of hospitals
• Mobile health applications 
• Laser-guided surgical instruments and other connected gadgets
• Patients can check in, make appointments, etc., online.

Healthcare IT can improve patient outcomes. Patients may monitor their nutrition and fitness in an app with smartwatches that track vitals. A healthcare professional can set up equipment to follow a patient’s vitals and interpret changes while overseeing an entire medical wing. A prescription monitoring technology can assist caregivers in prescribing the proper medication and automatically notify the patient’s coverage provider. 

Impacts of IT on The Healthcare Industry 

Many health technology advancements have been made over the centuries, but none have had as much influence as digital technology. Networking and computer advances have expanded medical therapies and transformed doctors’ practices.

Even though smart intellectuals have considered using computers in medicine since the 1960s, computers were too expensive and unreliable for medical practices. As medical technology like diagnostic imaging scanners has improved and gotten more accessible, so have rules and data standards (link lives outside ibm.com) to encourage healthcare facilities to use it. EHRs efficiently and securely digitize and organize health data, including test results and diagnoses, replacing paper medical records.

EHR systems and other technology are increasingly used to connect with patients and build treatment regimens. Laptops and iPads are becoming as widespread in healthcare as stethoscopes, and EHRs are enhancing health information access and interchange.

Healthcare professionals use technology to improve performance, collaborate across systems, and reduce costs when new challenges arise. Healthcare IT improves efficiency, automation, and workflow in a fast-growing market.

Advantages of Using IT In Healthcare

Improving Patient Quality of Life

Data from the patient care system helps assess a health organization’s performance. Technology automates such measurement, allowing constant data analysis, problem identification, and treatment and patient experience improvement.

Real-time Communication

Clinical, patient, and payer stakeholders need health records for numerous reasons. Businesses used to keep demographic-specific files. As technology makes it easier to standardize and safeguard digital medical records, more businesses are integrating their data so authorized individuals can access them when needed.

Medical Staff and Patient Flexibility

Patients’ schedules can make frequent checks challenging. Telemedicine and patient portals give patients new doctor-patient communication possibilities. Wearable technology like heart monitors gives clinicians extra ways to evaluate patients and follow symptoms regularly.

Can We Use AI In Healthcare?

Of course, we can. Current AI healthcare implementation priorities include clinical decision assistance and mining meaningful insights from massive data sets. Because healthcare businesses have so much data, AI is needed for analysis.

AI-enabled systems can analyze enormous amounts of data from electronic records, notes, photographs, sensors, and gadgets to improve patient care and develop novel medical treatments. Despite its recent entry into the industry, AI has several potential uses for healthcare businesses.

The Cloud 

The cloud is mainly linked with data storage in cloud computing. However, cloud services are for more than just archiving. Cloud computing lets healthcare companies build and deploy specialized apps that simplify data flow across their IT systems.

Hybrid cloud solutions allow enterprises to securely move data between sites while meeting HIPAA and other regulations. As a bonus, healthcare providers may now update old infrastructure and processes. Cloud computing enables artificial intelligence and machine learning to reveal trends and insights that improve treatment.

Blockchain

Blockchain allows secure health data gathering, verification, and exchange with a user-centric approach. Most blockchain implementations provide a decentralized, immutable record-keeping mechanism that is fully accessible to all users. This solution protects patient privacy and enables openness and interoperability across diverse healthcare infrastructures.

Telehealth Innovations

The COVID-19 pandemic led several doctors and clinics to offer telemedicine. Due to these changes, many insurance companies now appropriately reimburse telemedicine services and offer simple payment arrangements.

The telemedicine technical environment may survive the pandemic because of its portability and versatility. Video software on a computer or a mobile app helps patients in rural locations or who work outside of office hours speak with clinicians.

Healthcare technology innovations are enabling the following medical advances:

• Diagnosing: AI could help doctors diagnose better by digesting medical imagery and building sickness models. Recent studies from IBM Research, for instance, highlight the use of AI in identifying and analyzing brain activity patterns in MRIs to track the progression of neurodegenerative disorders like Huntington’s.
• Imaging: Computers and AI models are essential in medical imaging because they can transform images into numbers and recognize patterns. These advances can help radiologists and other doctors uncover anomalies and high-value findings in the many images they review.

Management and Operations

Electronic medical records have proven successful. Therefore, many healthcare institutions are searching for more systematic improvements. Organizations are optimizing their digital infrastructure using the cloud, data analytics, and mobile devices.

Research

Life science companies are using technology to revolutionize clinical trials. Electronic devices, telehealth appointments, and sensors support dispersed trials and make data collection easier for trial participants.