Information Technology for Health Professions

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, information technology for those in health care professions promises improvements in patient care and a more efficient health care system by reducing paperwork and lowering costs.

Benefits

• By using information technology, medical professionals can reduce medical errors by streamlining patient data and having coordinated medical records shared between medical professionals working with the same patient. Additionally, patients and families can have more immediate medical information and easier communication with health care professionals.

Time Frame

• Information technology in health care provides a more timely response with questions from patients, with lab results being available to physicians, with health care workers' access to a patient's complete medical history, and immediate access to reports and test results.

Significance

• As electronic health records become the standard of care, more technicians will be required by hospitals and health facilities to handle the implementation of electronic record keeping methods and to maintain those records. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand for health information technicians will increase by 20 percent through 2018.