Computers In The Workplace

  Computers in the healthcare industry are very important. The are used to run surgical machinery, enter data, viewed data, program data, and calculate data on every individual who entered the hospital. From the moment a patient comes into the emergency room, their information is collected and entered into the hospital EMR system. If they are a returning patient, then their information is added and never replacing old data. As important as computers are in the hospital industry, so is the education and literacy on using computers. From nurses, doctors, patient coordinators, financial advisers, therapists, and many more rolls in the industry, knowing how to use a computer can kill or save a patient. If doctors entered the wrong health information thus causing a nurse to give improper medication, a patient can become seriously ill or possibly die. Other reasons go as far for billing issues as well. Not having computing knowledge can easily cause errors like mistakenly charging a patient for a heart transplant when they only visited the hospital for an upset stomach. Though we are all human, mistakes cannot happen in a placed that is meant to save lives. As an employee, I have been apart of the team used to select new computers that can not only perform at speed to keep up with the flow of patients but able to work with all the applications the institution uses. The industry is evolving from using fully built computers at nursing stations to tiny thin client PC’s called Virtual Desktop Integration other wise known as VDI. This PC is a PC but rather than have a big workstation setup, it is a small device attached to the back of a monitor with keyboard and mouse that is connected to the cloud through the hospital network of servers. The next 10 years of evolution of computing in the healthcare industry will be through smart tablets, giving to every staff member to be used to enter information on the go/fly. These devices I think will be as powerful as modern computer allowing staff to enter and save data, including self-checking corrections before applying changes, perform video conferencing with a patient or a team communication, and as a result of having the latest and greatest technology, that institution will be highly recommendable by the community and state it provides care.