Implementing Information Technology to Improve Safety in the Health Care Environment



Abstract

Information technology has many potentials and with the help of IT quality, efficiency and safety of health care. Dispersion of information technology is normally low in health care. According to surveys it is indicated that health care organizations need to increase their investments. Quality and efficiency are the two most important drivers of investment in information technology. Some of the barriers in doing investment in information technology are cost of IT and implementation of IT. There are many characteristics in health care market which focus more on quantity rather than quality like payment policies. This paper has shown the implementation of information technology in the health care environment and impacts of adopting the information technology. Mostly it is found that organizations face positive impact by implementing information technology. It is also important to note that it is not easy for the organizations to implement IT in the health care environment because there are many barriers and problem in implementing IT to improve health care environment.

Implementing Information Technology to Improve Safety in the Health Care Environment

Introduction

Information technology has many potentials and with the help of IT quality, efficiency and safety of health care. Dispersion of information technology is normally low in health care. According to surveys it is indicated that health care organizations need to increase their investments. Quality and efficiency are the two most important drivers of investment in information technology. Some of the barriers in doing investment in information technology are cost of IT and implementation of IT. There are many characteristics in health care market which focus more on quantity rather than quality like payment policies (Feng, 2008).

Private and public sectors are working and putting their numerous efforts to promote the potentials of information technology in the health care environment. According to studies it is found that very few health care organizations have adopted information technology fully in their organization. The low diffusion of information technology is because of the complexity in the investment of IT. The reason is that technology needs change in the work process and culture. It also ensures that nurses, specialists and other staff of the organization are using the technology.

It is also observed that those aspects that focus on the quantity do not promote the investment in information technology in fact hold back. Many times organizations fails to adopt information technology and one of the important reasons behind is that organizations are not able to do necessary cultural changes. This paper is focused on the implementation of information technology in the health care environment. The study will also see the impact of information technology in health care environment. Some of the impact will be seen on the quality of health care facilities, improvement in the communication process, accessibility of information, support in decision making and early detection of diseases (Jones, 2012).

Another part of this paper is focus on the leaders and their role in implementing the information technology in health ...