By Carl George
Whether communicating with friends and family, trading goods and services, researching favorite topics, or enjoying music and other entertainment-the Internet is simply a different delivery channel for the things we've all been doing, and still do, in other ways. It is these three factors - convenience, low cost and timeliness - that make the Internet so compelling.
Changing the way clinicians do business
Effective healthcare delivery, beyond pharmaceuticals and devices, is contingent on ready access to accurate, timely information. The best healthcare information is of no value if it cannot be located, shared and applied. The value of information-sharing and the idea of cooperative medicine are well known and appreciated. To effectively facilitate information-sharing, and provide a higher level of value and customer service, healthcare organizations are taking advantage of technologies that facilitate sharing - most importantly, the Internet.
The basic premise of the Internet is to enable people to quickly and easily access and share web-based documents and applications. With pressure to be cost-effective, web-based "software as a service" applications are growing in popularity - mainly because they require no additional expensive software or servers to buy or maintain, and the data that resides in these applications is available in a timely manner at the cost of a workstation loaded with a web browser. In addition, the information stored in these applications can be accessed from any computer in any location, by anyone with the required security access. Security has advanced to the point where data can be protected and the risk of data theft is much lower than in the recent past.
One example of a new web-based "software as a service" application is Kardia Health Systems' EIMS (Echocardiography Information Management System), a comprehensive echo lab workflow solution. EIMS supports data acquisition, diagnosis and interpretation, clinical reporting, patient scheduling, and coded billing within one application. EIMS facilitates ready access to patient records and enables physicians to review echo measurements and generate structured echo reports via a browser from any location. This is especially useful for cardiologists working for multiple practices and from remote locations. This web-based application provides one central location for patient data with permission-based access from a secure common data server set.
Changing the patient provider relationship
The benefits inherent in "software as a service" also have the potential to greatly improve healthcare delivery and patient care. Because the Internet removes geographical restrictions, physicians can analyze data regardless of the location of the patient or physician. This gives patients and healthcare institutions access to qualified physicians, regardless of the location of the patient or the physician, and allows multiple providers to review the same data and collaborate on diagnoses. Healthcare organizations that embrace timely information delivery to deepen the customer relationship will be rewarded with more loyal customers because they have removed levels of customer frustration from the operational process.
The integration of secure, timely information via the Internet with healthcare delivery ultimately provides a higher level of service and patient care, both from a collaborative medical perspective (providing the patient with a more knowledgeable diagnosis) as well as from an educational perspective (allowing physicians to more easily learn from one another). It improves the operational efficiencies of the practice, enhances the health and longevity of patients, and creates a deeper, more rewarding practitioner/patient relationship.
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