Health Information Technology

Introduction

U.S Healthcare system is a victim of inefficiency and poor quality. It takes a lot of time to process the needs of patients. The main cause of Healthcare Department's failure is its reluctance to adopt Information Technology. Although other industries have been quick to adopt the latest trends of Information Technology, Healthcare has been lagging far behind in this area. Since the application of Information Technology in other industries, all major industries have been prospering at a rapid pace.

With the introduction of Health Information Technology all human processes will be replaced by computerized systems. This would not only increase the efficiency but also the quality of Healthcare would improve. Waiting time for patients would be minimized. Health Information Technology would have fruitful results. It would transform the whole Healthcare Industry. Although the implementation of Information Technology requires a huge amount of investment, but its results are worth investing.

Health Information Technology has the potential to lower costs. When costs would be low and processes will be computerized all the major obstacles would be eliminated. Health care is the industry which is designed for the betterment of people. If, it's not given the due attention, the whole economy is going to suffer. The policy makers need to realize that the revolution is only going to come with the introduction of Health Information Technology. Health Information Technology would automatically lower the costs.

U.S Healthcare System

The U.S Healthcare system is plagued by various problems. They are discussed below:

Problems

One of the primary concerns relating to U.S Healthcare system is that doctors are not paid enough according to the quality that they provide. When Doctors are not paid the amount which they deserve, they would not be providing quality service to patients. In other countries being a doctor is a respectable profession. Doctors are paid handsomely.

The Affordability factor has also contributed to the fallacy of the U.S Healthcare system. People avoid going to the hospitals because the cost is out of their reach. There have been many cases where people have skipped the tests or treatment prescribed by the doctor.

Another area of concern is that Americans don't have a regular physician. Whenever they visit a physician, he is not aware of the patient's history. Thus care quality is affected and medical errors result. Naturally when the physician does not know the medical history, he would not be able to advise appropriate treatment.

The chances of finding the doctors on any given day are very poor. It has been observed that whenever the patients get an appointment from a doctor, they don't find him on that respective day and time. Naturally they will be discouraged to come again (Klein, 2007).

Cost

The US Healthcare system is very costly. A major reason people do not come to hospitals is the exorbitant cost. When people cannot afford a service, they would not be willing to make use of it. As far as Health Insurance is concerned, the United States has a complex system. Health Care system of U.S is dependent on employment based health ...