The increasing importance of information technology has spread to the field of medicine. The University Of Maryland School Of Nursing has recently offered a new option for degree, in the field of nursing informatics. This decision is based heavily on the 2009 federal stimulus package which funds information technology and employment for medicine. In this package, electronic health records by means of RFID bracelets would be administered to every United States resident by 2014.
This bracelet, according to Carol Sorgen of the Washington Post, would improve science research, patient care, profession education, and overall public health. The importance of these nurses with degrees in informatics is indescribable has Marisa L. Wilson, assistant professor at the University Of Maryland School Of Nursing. “Informaticians are responsible for effectively organizing, analyzing, managing, and using the complex and increasing amount of information necessary in both healthcare delivery and research,” says Wilson. This high demand in the field of nursing informatics will not only open up the job market, but allow nurses to increase and refine their knowledge.
The program at the University of Maryland includes practice in the busy workflow of a hospital, and the practical information management. Using this information, these newly IT trained nurses can consult patients using this information, implement a support specialist, give patients technical support, and even train them to use these RFID tags as well.
These bracelets are very innovative in the field of information technology. Offered disposable for hygienic purposes, these RFID tag bracelets can make the process of a hospital visit quicker, more accurate, and easier for both patients and doctors. RFID tags are capable of storing a large amount of information, offered quickly and inclusively. Some of the things made available in these bracelets would be past medical records, doctor information, drug intake and disposal, and insurance information.
In my opinion these RFID medical tags will improve the medical process in the United States. Even better, is the ability of schools across the United States to acknowledge the importance of this medical innovation and offer students in the nursing field with an educational background when entering their careers as nurses.
-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110504551.html
-http://www.hoise.com/vmw/05/articles/vmw/LV-VM-03-05-10.html
Here is Carl Kesselman, professor at USC school of Engineering discussing Medical Informatics:
1 comment:
RFID tags in Medicine
The idea of RFID tags making their way into medicine sounds like a great idea all by itself. When you add in the fact that a University can make a new major based on the use of this technology, it gets better. The use of RFID tags is already popular and becoming more popular with companies as a way of tracking consumer information. One of the uses of RFID tags we have spoken about extensively in class is with Starbucks. Starbucks, and other companies like them, use RFID tags in cards to help track what their customers are purchasing, when they are purchasing, and where they are purchasing. This allows these companies to send special offers to customers and basically create a better relationship with their consumers.
In a hospital these RFID tags could be used in a very similar way to help patients and doctors. If every patient had their information stored electronically, and then had a bracelet that could have that same information on it, things would run a lot smoother in a hospital. Instead of having to check in and answer the same questions you have to answer everywhere you go, you could simply give your name, receive your RFID equipped bracelet, and move on to the next step. This could be helpful in the same way if you are visiting a hospital you are not familiar with.
I recently had an experience where I had to go to the hospital with someone. The person I went with, since we are away at school, had never been to this hospital before. Because of this he had to give all of his information including insurance, name, home, etc. If his information had been stored electronically he would have been able to just tell them his name and that would have been it. The time when this would be especially useful would be if someone was seriously hurt or injured to the point where they could not fill out forms or communicate effectively. The RFID tag on a bracelet would give doctors access to all of the patients medical history so that they would be able to do whatever they needed to do in order to help that patient.
Also mentioned in the article, the use of these tags would help to create more jobs. In a time where the economy is not in the best shape (to put it lightly) the creation of new jobs is something everyone would be happy about. If more schools could adopt a similar program to what the University of Maryland School of Nursing has, it would put more well trained informaticians into work. This would help the economy, it would help hospitals because they will have people who can do the work that most of their current employees are not capable of, and it would help patients. All in all, the use of RFID tags in medicine seems to have a lot of upside, and little, if any downside.
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