The importance of using medical computers stems back to when former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt, noted the importance of effective information technology in hospitals. Levitt, who served in the Bush administration, said it is “necessary to improve healthcare quality”. Information technology in hospitals includes electronic prescribing, electronic medical records, and other systems that help coordinate patient care between healthcare providers.
The need for better integration in these electronic services has resulted in the development of better equipment, such as the medical computer. The proponents of health information are vitally stored in this piece of equipment and have many different uses, depending on the settings. Some of these settings are better than others, and in this article, we go over the best hospital settings for a medical computer.
Clinical
A medical computer in clinical settings of a hospital provides order entry for drugs, lab tests, and procedures. This is helpful for medical secretaries to key in tests ordered by doctors. It can also serve many other purposes, such as obtaining electronic health records. It is very important for healthcare providers to have access to patient records and past treatments in order to make accurate diagnoses.
A medical computer can also provide diagnostic image archiving and lab results. A doctor can easily access photos from x-rays to find the source of problems. A medical computer is also very useful when it comes to prescription drug fulfillment, transcriptions, and error alerts. The clinical setting in a hospital is also the best for a medical computer because it allows monitoring of patients in intensive care units. Ensuring safety and the best care is vital to a hospital setting and should always be priority.
Administrative and Financial
A medical computer in administrative and financial settings of a hospital provides accounting systems, such as patient billing, personnel and payroll, and materials management. Administrative Assistants and HR personnel can easily keep track of payments for hospital bills. It is also used in a hospital payroll system and other financial accounts. Inventory control and accurate ordering is also an important aspect in the administrative setting of a hospital.
Before medical computers and information technology, all files were kept in physical folders and on paper. Losing important papers, disorganization, and forgetting vital information were all issues that came about the old way. With medical computers, hospital staff in the administration departments can quickly and easily access information for financial purposes.
Infrastructure
A medical computer in infrastructure settings of a hospital provides servers and wireless network routers to make accessing information easy. There are also voice recognition systems for transcription, physician orders, and medical records. Barcoding for drugs can also be done with a medical computer.
Medical device inventory control is another improvement with information technology, making it a quick process for healthcare professionals to provide what the patient needs. The most valuable part of the infrastructure setting of a hospital is the information security system. Keeping all of the above information safe and secure can all be done by the use of a medical computer.
Summary
A medical computer enables physicians, nurses and other authorized users to share data and streamline processes in clinical settings. An online “digital chart” displays up-to-date patient information in real time, complete with decision-support tools for physicians and nurses. Easy prompts allow swift and accurate ordering, documentation, and billing in administrative and financial settings. And the infrastructure settings of a hospital benefit from wireless networking, barcoding for drugs, and providing easy and safe access through information technology.
Clinical, administrative, and infrastructure settings are the best for medical computer usage in hospitals. A medical computer provides valuable tools to ensure these departments, and their processes, run more smoothly and effectively.