Critical Thinking- Emerging Technologies

This is an exciting and challenging time to be involved in healthcare informatics. Technologies are being developed that are rapidly changing the face of medical practice and organizations are struggling to maintain their edge in implementing systems, while reimbursement for services is decreasing and budgets are shrinking.

Technology impacts everyone involved in every aspect of patient care, from the admitting clerk at the front desk to allied health personnel and technicians to medical providers. Select one of the following technologies and provide a summary of its use in today's healthcare environment.

• Speech recognition technology
• Natural language processing
• Bar coding technology
• Optical character and gesture recognition technologies
• Clinical decision support systems
• Computerized order entry
• Electronic prescribing
• Telehealth/Telemedicine
• Mobile and Wireless Technologies
• Point of Care Information Systems
• Radio frequency identification tracking

In a 3- to 5-page essay, using sources to support your responses, answer the following questions.

• How is your chosen technology utilized, and by whom?

• What are the benefits to using this technology?

• What are the challenges to its utilization?

• Is this a "first generation" technology at this time, that is, are improvements already being developed or seen for the near future?