The health care system across the U.S. is slowly improving, but still not quite where it needs to be.
To enable to allow the U.S. to reach its full potential and provide universal health coverage there are a number of obstacles that must be eliminated.
One of these barriers is the absence of implementation for Health Information Technology (HIT).
The health care industry has become increasingly digital over the past 10 years as healthcare providers continue to come up with innovative applications and solutions to make healthcare more accessible, convenient and affordable to everyone.
With the advancement of digitization across other industries too it’s only natural to expect this to occur within the health care system too.
In a constant increase in patients, providers, and payers,
and other stakeholders establishing an increased relationship with their health institutions on a regular basis via different digital channels,
there is an increasing need in Health IT within the U.S. the health system in general.
What is Health Information Technology?
Health Information Technology refers to technology that aids healthcare providers, patients and healthcare payers assist and facilitate the exchange of health information.
image illustrating how artificial intelligence is aids us in the health industry
These technologies can comprise electronic medical records, health transactions, governance and data security,
allow the exchange of information between the various stakeholders within an organisation and with outside partners.
Health Information Technology is therefore the notion that facilitates and supports the exchange of information about health within an organization among different parties.
Therefore, HIT is more of an abstract term as opposed to the more concrete terms which “health IT” is commonly used.
What’s the reason Health Information Technology Important?
With over 300 million residents living in the U.S. lacking health insurance and a lot more uninsured Americans trying to access the medical treatment they require More people than ever are facing health problems.
The trend is expected to continue and provide an chance for the U.S. healthcare system to enhance its accessibility and quality of healthcare.
With the increase of chronic health problems like obesity and diabetes the increasing aging of the population as well as an increasing usage of medical innovations,
healthcare professionals are confronted with an increasing number of health-related problems. This has led to is a rising demand for healthcare IT implementations that improve access to and the quality of healthcare.
With more people suffering from health issues, there’s more need for health professionals who can effectively treat chronic illnesses and give access to the latest and most advanced treatment options.
Consequences of Not Implementing Health IT
Simply stated, without a solid health IT infrastructure and a robust health IT infrastructure, health IT infrastructures will be inadequate and the U.S. healthcare system will remain in a state of struggle regarding access and quality health care.
network that helps us get to get better health.
The ideal scenario for those adopting health IT is to lessen the negative effects on the rising amount of health problems.
It will increase accessibility to healthcare services for those who are not insured and under-served communities.
aid in improving performance and efficiency of U.S. healthcare system, and increase the security of sensitive patient information.
The importance of adoption process for Health IT
Although many view the process of adoption as a hurdle to implementing HIT however, it could be an important enabler for growth on the medical IT area. As the demand for health IT expands,
and the demand for increasing numbers of vendors to develop software that can meet the needs of the various users.
Due to this growing demand, vendors will have the opportunity to stand out by offering greater functionality and features than their competition. But most vendors aren’t able to satisfy the requirements for the consumer.
To counter this, a few healthcare IT vendors have developed programs that encourage adoption throughout in the entire health IT ecosystem.
Key Implementation Challenges in the Health IT System
With the increase in health IT comes an increase in the need of health information systems.
However, this growth in demand hasn’t been matched by an rise in the supply of professionals who are qualified to help aid in the expansion of the health IT infrastructure for the health IT system.
To address this issue To address this issue, a few medical IT vendors have launched programs that encourage adoption throughout all of the healthcare IT ecosystem.
As the need for health IT is increasing, so is the importance and complexity of making sure that it is of a high-quality system that are being used is at standards.
This is a significant factor since issues with the reliability of healthcare IT systems could have wide-ranging impacts, and often affect the flow of information about health throughout the entire health system.
Bottom Line
The introduction of healthcare IT could dramatically improve the health system in terms of accessibility to care as well as the quality of the care that is provided.
However, because of the difficulties when implementing and adopting HIT it is still major challenges facing the health system in this sector.
To maximize healthcare IT’s potential The U.S. healthcare system needs to address these issues.