Examples of Health Information Technology Updates

Though the bureaucratic nightmare of the modern health care industry will probably never entirely vanish. Health care information technology updates have eased the pains of archaically worded insurance forms, enigmatic fine print stipulations and months of waiting for forms to be filed and processed by creating cutting edge computer systems that facilitate the health care process and cut out dozens of middlemen.

Biscom Delivery Service

• Developed with the help of the associate director of health information services at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, the Biscom Delivery Server's (BDS) Secure File Transfer for Healthcare, created specifically for the health care industry, aims to rectify problems with patient confidentiality and security breaches in hospital record keeping systems. The system is used for the transfer of medical records and patient information during the referrals process. BDS employs a series of emails and passwords to authenticate recipients of confidential information.

Electronic Medical Records Systems

• Electronic medical records systems have been a major and very important health information technology update in the digital age. The systems allow doctors to access digitized versions of all patient information immediately. Rather than sifting through hefty, cumbersome, yellowing reams of near-illegible notes and records, medical professionals from doctors to nurses and even veterinarians and vet technicians can instantly access patient information and history in very legible and convenient text. Electronic medical records allow clinics and hospitals to go paperless, which cuts down on waste and is a positive environmental development in the age of green.

Interactive Systems

• A number of interactive medical software programs have enabled expedited communication between patients and doctors, doctors and government agencies, and hospitals and insurance companies. Systems such as Public Health Record (PHR) and New York Free Clinic's My Chart permit patients to email doctors directly with questions and concerns, and provide prescription renewal services online. PHR is used as an intermediary between the Social Security Administration and doctors. The system drastically accelerates the disability claims process, cutting three months of painstaking paper work down to minutes of electronic database conference.