Chapter 12 Case Study Questions

What problems are hospitals and physicians encountering in diagnosing diseases and prescribing medications? What management, organization, and technology factors are responsible for these problems?

Physicians and hospitals are suffering the same problems that they have for years and years. Even though they have put in some computer systems, for the most part they are still ultimately responsible for the diagnosis and the treatment of the patients. Most of the time they do that from experience and do not rely on information technology to assist. Seems that most medical offices use IT systems for scheduling and for recordkeeping. I think most of the problems stem from the egos of the doctors in not wanting to be second guessed in their assessment of the diagnosis. Certainly there is an art to it and physical factors are only a part of a patient condition that needs to be incorporated into a diagnosis. Additionally, since doctors are not pressing for it, management is not pushing it because of the up front costs associated with the system. The intial setup and programming is not standardized yet thus each system is very customized which costs a considerable amount of money. Pharmacies are much more computerized and better at checking medications for adverse interactions between medications.

Are CPOE and DDS systems appropriate solutions? Why or why not? What management, technology, and organization issues are involved in the use of these systems?

I think that CPOE and DDS systems are a part of the solution but not entirely. The human aspect of healing will always be a necessary part of the process. Once they become more accessible and less intrusive and obvious to the patient, a doctor can use them to reinforce his memory. The main issues are the privacy issues of the patient. It will take effort from all the various parts of the health care industry to implement a total solution. The current administration has high hopes in this area, but there are some huge hurdles to overcome before they return benefits equal to the costs.

What obstacles prevent computers systems from improving the medical industry? How can these obstacles be removed?

Right now there are two huge obstacles. First obstacle is the doctors who typically have huge egos and don’t want to be seen as one who needs help from a computer in front of his patient. The other are patients typically older and still view the doctor as all knowing. They will follow the diagnosis without questioning it regardless if it makes sense or not. As they die off, and the younger generation starts to be more customers of the health profession, they will be more open to computer aided diagnosis. Time will solve many of these obsacles as software becomes more advanced and more of the computer generation moves into the professions the old ways will go by the wayside.