Free «Health Information Technology» Essay Sample

Health information technology refers to the services and products, including hardware, software, and infrastructure meant to gather, store, and carry out the exchange of patient data and information in the clinical practice. In the present day, health information technology has promoted efficiency in physician practices across the world (Blumenthal, 2009). Therefore, many health care institutions have embraced the health information technology to ensure that various business and medical practices take place in an efficient manner. This discussion will consider the purpose of health information technology in the sector of medicine.

The adoption of health information technology in health care sector benefits health care providers, patients, and organizations in a number of ways. Health information technology has been useful in the alleviation of various problems in the health care sector across the world (Hebda & Czar, 2009). Studies have shown that health information technology significantly decrease paper work, improve the quality of health care services, improve administrative efficiencies, expand an access to cheaper care, and prevent errors in the delivery of health care services (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2009). The challenges that occur in the health care sector include clinical and administrative problems. One of the administrative challenges is the wastage of time when searching for patients’ medical records while one of the clinical challenges includes medication errors. Health care providers should embrace electronic patient records to increase the efficiency of searching patients’ records (Carter, 2008). This will significantly reduce the time, which the administrators use to acquire the patients’ private information. Bar coding and the use of Radio Frequency Identification technologies will reduce or prevent medication errors (Barrick, 2009). These technologies will ensure the administration of the right drugs to the right patients.

In conclusion, it is evident that health information technology has improved the quality of the delivery of health care services across the globe (Hersh, 2009). For instance, research has shown that the health information technology alleviates both administrative and clinical challenges. The use of electronic records, bar coding technology, and Radio Frequency Identification technology will alleviate a number of problems in the health care sector (Carter, 2008).