The healthcare industry needs to embrace technological change. New technologies are being integrated into processes across the industry and at all levels, making it vital for the healthcare workforce to learn how to use them. The training of workers needs to keep up with these rapid technological advancements. The workforce must be educated to use technology that administers care, empowers patients, and uses shared data to improve the provision of efficient and effective healthcare.
“It is essential to have a plan in place to train and support employees as they learn and adapt to new technology”
Stephanie Hammerworld, co-owner, Hammerworld & Publishing, said “The implementation of new technology can bring a lot of headaches. That is why it is essential to have a plan in place to train and support employees as they learn and adapt to new technology.”
Healthcare Business & Technology mentioned that integrating new innovations into medicine is important because it improves the quality of people’s lives.
The advancements of medical equipment like comfortable scanning equipment, better monitoring systems, and minimally-invasive surgeries let patients have less time in recovery and more time appreciating a healthy life. The modern healthcare environment is outlined to generate a high quality health care, fast and at a cheaper cost.
Proper training is important because if each worker doesn’t fully understand how to utilize the technology, they may slow down processes contributing to slower provision of quality healthcare.
Increasing the training of the medical workforce on how to use new and existing technology is being developed and improved around the world. The upgrade of medical equipment has forced Australia to increase the number of medical schools, and accepted increased numbers of international medical graduates to address workforce shortages. In other countries such as Cuba, they have been taking bold steps toward improving their medical technology skills and expertise in order to cope up with the innovation of healthcare services.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the widespread presence of personal care aides alone is presumed to rise by almost 50% by the year 2022. Same growth will be expected for physician assistants, nurses, and physical therapists.
“Nursing informatics focuses on methods to support the ways that nurses work, nursing education, and applications that promote consumer health”
Advances when it comes to healthcare are not all in operating rooms and laboratories. It also altered the face of healthcare information and how it is being applied and distributed. Because of this, the role of nurses has expanded and opened to a new career path. Informatics is the practice of turning data into information. It involves the use of statistical techniques and computers in the management of information. Toni Hebda, a Professor of the Nursing Degree Program at Chamberlin College of Nursing, said that “Nursing informatics focuses on methods to support the ways that nurses work, nursing education, and applications that promote consumer health.”
Another example of a bold innovation to healthcare is a smart watch that Apple has developed in order to monitor blood sugar levels. Developments such as these are being greatly received, as they help not just the diabetes sufferers but also healthcare providers as patients are able to monitor themselves and physicians can monitor them from afar.
In order for medical technology innovation to work, all healthcare providers need to boost their knowledge of them. Proper training of the healthcare workforce will complement the technological advancements in the field of medicine.
