Why Healthcare Technology Needs to Change

As debates over healthcare coverage, privatization, and Medicare rage in Washington, another discussion is taking place at hospitals and healthcare facilities all over the nation: How can technology better meet the industry’s most pressing needs?

Very few IT solutions actually address issues specific to the healthcare industry. Many healthcare providers feel that tech companies fail to consider the end user:

“Build a critical mass of users. A national EHR program has to offer technology solutions that meet its users’ needs. Whatever the solution, its success depends on having a critical mass of users.” (The Patient’s Doctor)

Hospitals need two things to run well: cleanliness and quiet. Desktop computers tend to offer little of either. They collect dust. They clutter up workspaces. They hum and whir. And if (as is often the case) they’re put on a cart and wheeled from room to room to collect and store patient information, dirty computers can compromise the health of the very people who came to the hospital to get better.

Hospitals have other issues as well. With the passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, known as HIPAA, patient privacy rules are more stringent, and organizations face penalties for noncompliance. In addition, hospitals face the same external and internal threats to the network as any data-rich organization:

“Hackers broke into Akron Children’s Hospital computer files over Labor Day weekend, potentially accessing names, addresses, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of about 230,000 patients and their families, as well as a database containing the bank-account information of about 12,000 donors.” (From The Beacon Journal)

We might never all see eye to eye on the grand healthcare issues, but most agree that patients must be protected, that doctors and staff must have the tools to provide the best possible care, and that these two requirements should be met in a way that makes good economical sense.

An effective Blade PC solution helps healthcare facilities to achieve these goals by centralizing all computing assets in a secure location, using powerful software to manage deployments. While meeting HIPPA requirements, facilities will save on overall cost, enjoy 99.9% uptime, create a more sterile and ergonomically sound environment, increase data security, and finally align technology with the needs of the healthcare facility.