New Innovations in Health Care Technology, Coursework Example

Introduction

Technology has largely transformed the healthcare industry and represents an opportunity to convey the importance of new perspectives to encourage cost effective and efficient healthcare outcomes for all patients. It is important to demonstrate the value of educating nurses regarding healthcare informatics and related technologies to ensure that all possible elements are explored that promote efficient task completion while sustaining high quality patient care at all times. It is necessary to demonstrate the importance of technology and its role in healthcare practice in order to provide nurses and other clinical providers with the tools and resources that are necessary to facilitate positive patient care outcomes at all times.

Analysis

Healthcare informatics has taken a dramatic and exciting turn in recent years, as the costs associated with healthcare have skyrocketed, thereby mandating more cost effective methods of doing business. Therefore, it is important for organizations to establish new perspectives that will encourage positive outcomes and support new initiatives to encourage nurses to provide excellent quality of care in treating all patients (Schwartz, 2012). Technology in the healthcare environment requires a vision and approach that will demonstrate effectiveness and encourage the development of new research methods and protocols to support positive results in the clinical environment (Schwartz, 2012). For example, electronic health records is one advancement in recent years that has captivated the healthcare industry and demonstrates the ability of organizations to be effective in capturing data in an efficient yet confidential manner (Schwartz, 2012). Nurses must be on board with the continued evolution of healthcare technologies so that their patients are provided with the best possible tools and resources that will facilitate positive results in patient care quality and outcomes (Schwartz, 2012).

Health informatics is a complex process that has become increasingly relevant in most healthcare practice settings. Therefore, the term informatics must be evaluated further in order to determine how to best approach this area of practice with the knowledge and tools that are necessary to meet the required standards (Campbell, 2013). Informatics is designed to improve patient care outcomes through the “effective uses of biomedical data, information, and knowledge for scientific inquiry, problem-solving, and decision-making, driven by efforts to improve human health” (Campbell, 2013, p. 28). This term has a significant impact on modern healthcare practice and supports the continued utilization of data and information to expand research and knowledge-based initiatives to encourage greater quality of patient care and related outcomes (Campbell, 2013).

From a healthcare perspective, the prevention of disease and other factors must be considered in the development of healthcare technologies, both now and in the future (Dalrymple, 2011). Education in health informatics must be secured in order to provide a greater understanding of the challenges of the modern era that impact healthcare practice, including disease prevention and health promotion (Dalrymple, 2011). Each of these factors plays a role in supporting the expansion of education that will be effective in determining positive outcomes for patients and in enabling nurses to provide greater quality of care under a variety of conditions (Dalrymple, 2011). Education regarding informatics must be provided to nurses so that they are able to provide optimal patient care to those in need (Dalrymple, 2011). It is imperative to demonstrate that various technologies and informatics have set a higher standard for healthcare practice; therefore, it is necessary for nurses to obtain proper training and education regarding these efforts in order to optimize healthcare practice and meet the required standards of modern practice settings (Dalrymple, 2011).

Nursing practice will continue to benefit from the opportunities that are available through informatics and technology-based solutions (Cipriano, 2011). In using this approach, it is necessary for nurses to utilize the technologies that are available to support enhancements in medication safety, the prevention of disease and infection, the utilization of pharmaceuticals as appropriate, and the creation of tools that will prevent the utilization of unnecessary and expensive treatments (Cipriano, 2011). Each of these criteria is essential to the promotion of greater healthcare quality and delivery across all healthcare facilities so that improved quality of life and treatment for patients is achieved (Cipriano, 2011). It is necessary to establish an effective understanding of the issues that are most relevant in supporting new technologies as they are integrated into the workplace setting in an effective manner (Cipriano, 2011). Nurses must adapt to these changes and integrate these objectives into daily practice so that their patients will achieve maximum benefits from these tools on a consistent basis (Cipriano, 2011).

Conclusion

The development of successful nursing practice objectives requires the integration of modern technologies and informatics in order to achieve positive outcomes in the workplace setting. In the modern era, patient care quality is dependent on these practices and requires nurses to be proactive in obtaining the necessary education and knowledge to integrate technologies to promote efficiency and cost effectiveness across a variety of areas. It is important for nurses to be receptive to these technologies and to consider how they will impact the quality of patient care across many settings. Nurses who adapt to healthcare technologies and informatics will provide their patients with greater quality of care and treatment as they embrace technology-based solutions in the workplace setting to meet standards and improve patient outcomes.

References

Campbell, R.J. (2013). Defining health informatics. Journal of AHIMA, 84(2), 28-30, 32.

Cipriano, P.F. (2011). The future of nursing and health IT: the quality elixir. Nursing Economics, 29(5), 286-9, 282.

Dalrymple, P.W. (2011). Data, information, knowledge: the emerging field of health informatics. Bulletin of American Society for Information Science and Technology, 37(5), 41-44.

Schwartz, A. (2012). Helping drive health care’s fast-moving technology train. Science of Caring, 24(1), 14-20.