Healthcare Information Technology Can Save YOUR Life and YOUR Money

Healthcare Information Technology (IT) hasschool or other personal problems. They are,
progressed by leaps and bounds in the lasttoday, perfectly capable of reading medication
decade and today, it can easily save your life orlabels accurately every single time by use of
the life of your loved one if you or your familybarcodes. Once told of an allergy or possible
member has to be hospitalized for any reason.medication contraindication, the computer never,
Not only can healthcare IT save your life but yourever forgets or fails to compare the medication
money, too.about to be provided to you, the patient, with
The wrong medication can easily kill you. Youthese facts. And, this process is accomplished
might know you are allergic to a medication andwithin nanoseconds rather than valuable minutes
have input that on your patient information forms.of a human's time.
There might be a known medication interactionOnce medication is dispensed by the healthcare IT
between two medications provided. Unless thesemedication control solution, the computer bills your
facts are compared and taken into account, it isinsurance carrier or adds the medication to your
very easy for the wrong medication to beself-pay account. Instead of having many pieces
provided in a healthcare setting.of paper and many hands processing this
Doctors and nurses are only human. They workinformation, it is handled efficiently and instantly.
long hours; often working double shifts duringThe right patient is billed for the right medication in
crises. They get tired; their eyes become wearythe correct amount. The errors historically made
and they are frequently rushing from patient toof healthcare bills are reduced to virtually zero.
patient. Even when well-rested and refreshed,At the same time, the inventory of the
mistakes can be made because thesemedication is reduced by the amount which has
professionals are simply human and no human isbeen dispensed and, when the inventory becomes
perfect. Even with the best training, it is possiblesufficiently reduced, a flag is raised and an order
to misread a doctor's instructions, medicationgenerated so that an order is generated for the
allergy information, or the name or dosage of asupplier to deliver more. This way, human error
drug on the often small-print labels. The potentialdoes not result in shortages of critical medications.
for error is enormous, at best, when human eyesThe many legally required reports regarding
and hands are the only method for dispensingdispensing of medications -- especially controlled
medication to patients in hospitals or othersubstances which help you deal with post-surgical
healthcare settings.or post-injury pain and suffering -- are generated.
One well-known example which received a lot ofThese reports once required hours or days to
press was the incident with Dennis and Kimberlyproduce.
Quaid's twin babies. These tiny infants were givenIt remains true that your healthcare professionals
a dosage of Heparin which was 1,000 times themust input your patient information into the
dosage ordered, and while they recovered, deathhealthcare IT system correctly in order for these
was a clear possibility. There were not the onlysafeguard to work properly, but the time
patients overdosed with this medication. Theyconsumed by this process is only minutes
were just the famous ones that received press.compared to the hours eaten away in past
The solution to this life-threatening problem isdecades by paper-trails and hand-dispensing of
added safety measures but no patient wants tomedication.
pay the added cost of having multiple sets ofHealthcare IT systems are now being deployed
human eyes check every single instruction andinto physicians' and other healthcare professionals'
medication. Plus, even with two or three sets ofoffices because they work just as well when
eyes, the possibility of error remains.prescribing medication to be dispensed at your
So, how are you, as a patient, to be assured youlocal pharmacy as when dispensing medication in a
are getting the correct medications while payinghospital.
the least amount of money? The answer willWhile these healthcare IT solutions require a
sound simple but the actual implementation is quitesubstantial initial investment to put into place, the
complex. For this reason, let's look at the simple,long-term savings to patients is enormous. More
easy-to-understand reason why healthcare ITimportantly, the peace of mind you gain when
helps assure your health and save pocketbook,hospitalized or being treated by a healthcare
too.professional is vast. Just consider what is your life
Computers do not get tired; they do not becomeworth when a single medication error could kill you!
distracted by the phone call from the children's