The realities of healthcare management are changing rapidly as the entire world of medicine adapts to what is coming to be known as the digital medicine revolution. Technology is taking over much of people's lives, and it is no different in hospitals and health centers around the world. Wireless technology, new sensors, smart infusion pumps - the changes in technology are seemingly endless.
Edward W. Marx, senior vice president and CIO of Texas Health Resources, outlined the goals of these new types of technology. He stated that they were intended to "improve quality of care and patient saftey, reduce costs of care, and provide access to real-time and historical information." All noble goals, obviously ones that any healthcare system would like to implement - but these results are becomming a reality as technology and medicine merge, with benefits intended for everyone.
These technologies do come with a cost, though. Not only is there the actual cost of the new equipment (which is often claimed to 'pay for itself'), but there is real change coming with the need for healthcare managers who can navigate all of the new different types of technology - along with the doctors, nurses, lawyers, and other 'managing' that has always been a part of the job description. As the digital age promises to change the entire face of healthcare, it is the managers that can keep up with the technology as it adapts - and keep their physicians and staff up to date as well - that will become invaluable to their facilities.
It is important to note, as Timothy Stack (FACHE, President and CEO Piedmont Healthcare) did, that "technology, however, is only as sucessful as the processes and people who support them... We can't do this without support from our physicians and nurses." The technology may turn out to be able to revolutionize healthcare, but it will still require dedicated healthcare professionals to make the great promises of digital technology a reality.
For further reading on the digital revolution in healthcare
http://www.technologyreview.com/printer_friendly_article.aspx?id=22026&channel=biomedicine§ion
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19276318
