First Discussion Topic:
When we look at things like EHR systems we can see the
tremendous impact it has had in the healthcare field. Now more than
ever EHR systems are more predominant than before due to
COVID. COVID forced the healthcare field to go into a frenzy and
adapt new ways to continuously serve their patients while keeping
everyone safe. Telehealth visits are now a very common practice
and help physician/patient relationship communicate easier. Ehealth
has open doors of networking and allows patients to access their
health information from the comfort of their own home. This has
positively impacted healthcare delivery in the different things it
helps improve in a healthcare facility. “Studies have shown that
eHealth is effective in reducing the time to diagnosis, ensuring
access of individuals in remote areas to healthcare and improving
quality of life and patients' satisfaction” (McLean et al., 2013).
When we put this into perspective telehealth visits during the years
of 202-2021 has helped the millions through the pandemic. Since no
one felt safe leaving their homes and it was riskier to sit in a waiting
area than at home if this was not promoted and adopted by many
medical facilities a lot of patients could have faced life or death
illnesses.
Second Discussion Topic:
While any of these four issues can be accompanied with technology
diffusion, I think the most important one is safety. Federal
legislation should focus their efforts in ensuring the safety of
patients, medical equipment and devices, as well as medication. This
prevents medical facilities from potentially facing lawsuits and
losing millions of dollars every year because of unsafe environments
and outing the lives of patients at risk. Take for example, the federal
and government agencies like the FDA and the CDC. These are
agency whose role is to ensure drugs, products, and guidelines are
safe for users and that proper protocols are being followed. “The
Food and Drug Administration is responsible for protecting the
public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human
and veterinary drugs, biological products, and medical devices”
(Office of the Commissioner, 2018). If a medical facility decides to
skip the process of getting a medical device approved by the FDA
because of the turnaround time and still use it on a patient. This
action can result in the patient losing their life. The facility will then
be held accountable for this negligence. The CDC also plays a role
in this scenario because they are there to ensure the safety of other.
“As the nation's health protection agency, CDC saves lives and
protects people from health threats” (CDC, 2022). Which is why
when it comes to the healthcare field safety is of utmost importance
not only for the patient but, for staff as well. It can prevent a patient
from losing their life as well as a medical profession from losing
their job and life in more of a metaphorical way because depending
on the severity of the case they can even face jail time.
References
CDC. (2022, February 25). Mission, Role and Pledge. Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention.<https://www.cdc.gov/about/organization/mission.ht
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McLean, S., Sheikh, A., Cresswell, K., Nurmatov, U., Mukherjee,
M., Hemmi, A. and Pagliari, C. (2013). The impact of
telehealthcare on the quality and safety of care: A systematic
overview. PLoS One, 8(8), e71238.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0071238
Office of the Commissioner. (2018, March 28). What We Do. U.S.
Food and Drug Administration. https://www.fda.gov/about-
fda/what-we-do
