Health Technology Part 3

This is the final post in my series on health technology.   I imagine many people are asking, how can IT help us in providing health care?  Isn’t it just an accounting or record keeping system?  Many rural providers are using technology, in various forms, to improve care or provide care that they otherwise couldn’t.  This recent article describes a program in Tennessee that provides mental health services to rural patients through Skype, a videoconferencing system.  Patients communicate with therapists through a camera in a laptop; they can access services at home or at a central location such as a rural health clinic.  The goal is “to  increase counseling availability for those who can’t afford or are without transportation, as well as the disabled.” 

In a similar example of innovative use of technology, a study last year found “the use of telemedicine can dramatically improve the quality of child sexual assault examinations in rural communities.”  The study found several advantages to this use of remote technology.  There are fewer qualified practitioners in most rural areas.  Telemedicine “also can minimize additional trauma to children who might otherwise have to travel for hours to undergo the long and detailed examinations,” according to one of the authors.  The project’s director is quoted: “We view telemedicine as a tool, not just as a new way to deliver health care, but as a tool to deliver better health care to more people.”  I think this is an excellent way to view any health technology.

So, now you’re convinced you should look in to investing in health technology.  Where do you look?  The Rural Health Resource Center is a good place to begin.  They have an extensive library of resources on a number of topics, including health information technology.  Here you can find links to broadband financing opportunities, numerous reports and case studies and an especially useful Rural Health IT Adoption Toolkit.  If you have an existing HIT system and are looking for an evaluation model to determine whether you’re getting the outcomes and improvements you expected, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality developed a Health Information Technology Evaluation Toolkit.  This step-by-step workbook will help you develop a plan to measure and report on the impact of health information technology systems.

February 26, 2010 · KJacobson · No Comments
Tags: ,  · Posted in: Reports and Studies, Training and Tools

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