Using Technology to Improve Research in Healthcare
Abstract
Major technological interventions in regard to medical field have had essential effects in research and service delivery. Introduction of diverse social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Skype and MySpace have ensured interaction and sharing of information. These social media platforms give the users the opportunity to discuss health policies, trends in the medical field and ensure consultation in matters pertaining health. This research paper peeks on major technological development that has improved research in medical field. The results indicates that various development have been made in the recent past and has greatly influenced the field positively. They include use of various search engines, applications and social media for retrieval of medical information which ensure consultation and sharing of that information.
Using technology to improve research in healthcare
Introduction
Development of new advanced technologies has had a positive impact in the healthcare. Essentially, breakthroughs and progress in technology have enhanced communication, treatments, information gathering and research in healthcare. Mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets have various types of software designed in such a way to ensure effectiveness in use of various applications. In relation to the health field, experts have developed health applications that can be utilized as important tools to create health awareness, keep track of exercise, information, nutrition, and maintain motivation. Notably, the use of social media has proven to be an effective instrument in spreading information rapidly including health information to the target audience.
With a combination of health apps and sharing health information in social media, users have better chances to enhance and maintain their health goals. This research paper peek on examining how new technological health interventions and social media could be beneficial to healthcare with regard to service delivery and research.
Using technology and social media to enhance research and service delivery in healthcare
Social media is recognized as a comfort zone where users are at liberty to share any kind of information with ease. Popular social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter, Skype and WhatsApp. These platforms allow users to exchange information and relate effective even though in different locations. The key objective of social media developer was creating a platform that will allow and ensure relationship among different people. However, according to Kass-Hout & Alhinnawi (2013), social media has become an effective instrument in studying and obtaining public health data.
Health information has always been perceived as personal data, and it is solely an individual decision whether to share the information or keep it personal. Many people in the social media world share their information freely. In social media platform, users have the chance to discuss their challenges and mention emerging events, thus sharing important data. For instance, users might discuss an epidemic that has hit either an individual or a community (Kass-Hout & Hend, 2013).
According to Free et al (2013), social media has been proved to be an effective mean of ensuring reach of health facilities to the intended patients. Essentially, healthcare has taken advantage of the social media tools to ensure a wider geographical coverage and reach of doctor officers, public clinics and research facilities to a wider population. According to Anikeeva & Bywood (2013), healthcare facilities including hospitals are making use of social media to ensure contact with patients, launch public responsiveness campaigns, answer healthcare related questions and most importantly ensure community outreach. According to Free et al (2013), some high developed sites provide platforms that can maintain instant chats with health practitioners or nurses. These ensure exchange of medical information and enable the doctors and nurses to remind the patients on the need for tests and vaccinations.
In addition, users can debate a new health policy, whether it is relevant or if it contributes towards ruining health standards. In such discussion, people’s opinion regarding their health or a region’s health status is manifested effortlessly. Use of technology particularly social media platforms helps to establish correct and latest health information that is trivial in the development of a healthy nation.
Use of Health Web Based Applications
According to Cummiskey (2011), information technology has made life for many people easier and less time consuming through simpler ways of accomplishing difficult tasks such as in business, entertainment, health, and education sectors. In the health sector, information technology has been utilized in developing quality service. Health experts are now concerned with ensuring information technology contributes towards increasing accessibility to health data and to the public (Kass-Hout and Hend, 2013). In addition, technology has enhanced work efficiency and patient care. In this case, nurse and doctors use hand held computers or the tablets to record patient’s diagnosis and treatment information and monitor treatment process (Anikeeva & Bywood, 2013).
These electronic databases have been essential to the healthcare system as they ensure storage of vast medical information which can be retrieved with ease. Health institutions are a step ahead through the development of health applications in mobile devices. The use of major online search engines has enable prediction of trends in healthcare system (Free et al, 2013). By effectively analyzing information related to health that is commonly searched by the users, healthcare system is able to determine and predict trend in medical field. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo, eBay, Bing and Amazon have proved to be effective in ensuring retrieval of health related information and records with ease (Free et al, 2013).
Easy use of various search engines have enable medical experts to respond to changes and outbreaks of diseases based on the predicted trend. According to, as people continue to use these search engines, more and more information related to medical field will be present and thus ensure more scientific studies. From ensuring reduced medical, patient education and administrative costs, web based applications used by hospitals, doctors and nurses have been proved to make hospitals and the health field and large more eco friendly. Various web based applications have been developed. For instance, CV Surgery risk application is one of the most recent discoveries in the health field that helps the doctors to estimate the risk of conducting a particular surgery.
More importantly, the information available in the Internet through applications constitutes medical history, physical education and context awareness. Apple is the dominant service provider of applications in the field of medical and health related issues with more than 200 health-based application. According to Liu, et al. (2011), most of the application tools are associated with medical history, and they constitute reference from online journals, websites and newspapers (Liu, et.al, 2011). People that access such information, do so for the purposes of confirming their prior knowledge in health, lest do they engage in finding new information. Apple is in a bid to develop other applications that can incorporate other tools besides from reference avenues.
Apple developers are currently working on installation that would ensure three-dimensional representations, in order to make a comprehensive picture for the user. Three-dimensional pictures are more attractive to the eye and provide more details then single and two-dimensional pictures. When pictures on the application are attractive and provide more details, the number of users would significantly increase. In this case, smart phones and other web based application in health field have ensured that can use their touch screen or the Smartphone to fill in patient’s form before going for consultation from a doctor.
More importantly, the doctors and nurses have the advantage to use the application graphics which contain images as a way of finding explanation and doing diagnosis (Free et al, 2013). Medical experts together with health applications developers are worried that there is a lot of untapped potential in the mobile industry. Therefore, they are focused on developing more applications, which would offer more applications. Apple in association with health professionals are working together to develop more application so as to attract more users and nurture a healthy population.
Smartphone application Usage
Smart phones are the new wave in information technology, this is confirmed by the number of people who own and use smart phones. This trend is clearly revealed among the teenagers where about 70 percent of them in the United Sates own smart phones (Cummiskey, 2011). Smart phones due to its fast speed and mass storage capacity have the ability to house applications, which can perform a number of tasks (Cummiskey, 2011). Smart phones are able to support applications based on education, industrialization, politics, music, health, and weather. However, teenagers who are the majority users of these devices, utilize Smartphone majorly for entertainment and social networking.
Given the urgency of health information, developers have been designing applications that can easily provide required health data to users. Most of these applications are incorporated in smart phones including the Ipad. Essentially, healthcare field is making use of smart phone applications to explore diverse issues and concerns revolving around the field. The Ipad in this regard has been proved to be fundamental ensuring digital files for the hospital and the patients. In order to attract users, developers of Smartphone applications have ensured development of relevant applications that can be used in diverse fields (Handel, 2011). Presence of numerous applications in smart phones enables the users to conduct diverse activities using the phone. For instance, the user is a position to forward patient’s information to the doctor with ease. In addition, the applications at the same time enable the nurses and doctors to utilize graphics designed to ease the process of diagnosis and explanation.
According to, smart phones also provide applications that can ensure scanning of medical record to determine fiscal management. The application is referred to as Remotescan and aims to ensure accountability and transparence in diverse fields including medical field (Handel, 2011). Technological advancement in regard to development of smart phones has brought out the issue of paperless nurse or doctor’s office. This implies that the use of diverse applications ensured by the Smartphone will enable the doctors to monitor patient’s treatment and the comfort of their office.
According to Handel (2011), with the help of Smartphone, doctors and nurses are in a position to access numerous medical records. They enable the doctors to peek on various case studies online and have vast medical information history regarding the patient. Technology has created a platform that ensures easy consultation between doctors and other medical officers worldwide. This is possible with the help of videos, e-mail, conference facilities and texts (Coomes et al, 2012). This has resulted to a unique practice in medical field referred to as telemedicine. This has especially proved to be essential to medical officers and doctors in remote areas and under developed regions (Benavides-Vaello et al, 2013).
According to McInnes & Hogan (2013), this gives the doctor a chance to research, diagnosis and treatment of the identified condition without access to a highly sophisticated hospital. For instance, telemedicine technology was effectively used in Haiti in the year 2010 (Bricon & Newman, 2007). Social media on the other hand has been proved to be effective as a mean of reaching wider population and ensuring information on time.
Conclusion
From the above research, one can conclude that technology particularly social media and web based applications have greatly contributed to effective execution of research in medical field. Social media provides platforms and tools that enable users including medical officers and doctors to share information regard to healthcare. Social media ensures wider geographical coverage and wider population.
The research also indicates that smart phones and the applications there in plays an essential role in ensuring access to medical information, easing treatment process for instance the case of CV Surgery risk application. The applications and the smart phones enable the doctors and other medical officers to consult each other regarding to a particular condition. As evident from the research, technology has enhanced medical research with the help of internet with ensured a key source of information related to medical field. In addition, technology particularly social media has ensured access of healthy facilities by the patients.
Reference
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