It’s exciting as a patient to see healthcare technology keeping up with the times. Not just from a standpoint of advanced medical procedures and the like; but also from an administrative standpoint. FastCompany released last week their Top 10 Most Innovative Companies, giving GE top honors in the Health Care category because of their Healthymagination program. According to fastcompany.com, GE is investing $6 billion over the course of the next several years in a variety of innovative health care technology. GE’s Centricity Electronic Medical Record system will allow doctors to manage a patient’s complete medical history, helping to reduce errors.
As a patient, visiting a medical facility that uses this type of technology is a God-send. If I have a choice, I want to go with the doctor who has all my medical information in one place – it’s more convenient (I don’t have to repeat all my medical information every time I visit someone new); it’s more accurate (I don’t have to worry about one doctor having to decipher another doctor’s handwriting); and it’s more complete (I don’t have to rely on my memory to recite all the ailments I’ve had throughout my 40 years).
This technology is demonstrated beautifully in GE’s “Doctors” commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKav4vFPTFM&feature=channel). Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have all of your past and present medical professionals assembled in one room to give their undivided attention to you and your medical history? That is the point of EMR and it’s brilliant.
Another nugget: the digital database. FastCompany says that GE, together with Intermountain Healthcare, the Mayo Clinic, and other institutions have created the database, which connects to electronic medical records, allowing comparisons of patients’ medical histories. Imagine having at your fingertips a vast number of patients from which to compare symptoms and diagnoses.
As a patient, this type of technology not only gives me comfort, but makes me thankful to be living in the 21st century.
Sources:
http://www.fastcompany.com/mic/2010/industry/most-innovative-healthcare-companies
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