Computerized charting is a significant medical advancement that has been observed to be widely adopted during operating procedures these days. It has proved to be highly effective in providing high-quality surgical services to patients along with several facilitators that support its usage. Nevertheless potential barriers are also noted to be associated with its utilization in surgical units. Computerized charting is a significant medical advancement that has been observed to be widely adopted during operating procedures these days. It has proved to be highly effective in providing high-quality surgical services to patients along with several facilitators that support its usage. Nevertheless potential barriers are also noted to be associated with its utilization in surgical units.
¶ … Barriers and Facilitators
Effectiveness, Barriers and Facilitators of Using Computerized Charting in the Operating Room
The world is surging ahead with technological boom which is leaving its indelible imprints on almost all the facets of human life. Healthcare is also one of the significant sectors in which medical technology is advancing to provide better diagnostic techniques, examining facilities, and treatment procedures. These technological developments mainly encompass the equipments used in diagnosis and treatment, medical services offered by the healthcare sector, knowledge regarding different branches of biology and medicine, and so forth. However, the growing usage of information technology holds a prime position amongst all (Lorenzi, 2005).
Computerized systems in healthcare are gaining immense limelight in the current epoch; however, it has considerably assisted in provision of improved and efficient surgical services to patients in operating rooms. Computerized information system, specifically the one used for the purpose of administering surgeries, largely facilitates in proper planning of appointments (for surgeries), regulation, and precise implementation of planned schedules. Thus, problems related to delays and prolonged waiting can be handled efficiently. Also, the usage of computerized Surgical Information System allows and assists in managing operating procedures and resources well (Lorenzi, 2005).
According to different studies, it has come to the forefront that schedules for operations are now frequently made electronically in hospitals. It helps in managing the cases in a fine and organized manner because the electronic data consists of case history of patients and also other details related to surgery. This allows the staff members to prepare the patient and operation theatre with appropriate requirements on time (as scheduled). Moreover, computerized/electronic data also facilitates in effectively estimating the time duration for surgery; hence, prompt availability of operative and post-operative measures can be ensured by the hospital management (Lorenzi, 2005).
In addition, computerized charting is a technique that records every bit of the information regarding the surgery including the type of surgery, name of patient and surgeons, case study of patient, and the preparations that were carried out before the operation began. Furthermore, details about allergy and other health enormities suffered by patient (if any) along with his/her medical conditions since the time he/she was admitted in the hospital are also recorded. Likewise, the procedure of operation employed, all the medications given to the patient orally or intravenously (including anesthetics), type and condition of surgical equipments used, and all sorts of specimen that are collected during surgery (for example blood specimen for examining) are documented in the computerized database (Maurer, 2013).
This set of information can be easily accessed by doctors, nurses, and all healthcare personnel who can frequently update it whenever needed in accordance with progress of the case. This facilitates the people in-charge for dealing effectively with any sort of emergency or complication that may arise during the operation. Consequently, patients can be provided with improved and enhanced care in the operating rooms as well as during post-operative phase. Additionally, surgeons can make effective use of patient's computerized record to make wise and sensible decisions during the surgical process (Maurer, 2013).
Computerized charting was initially considered important and efficient for storing and securing business information. However, it has gained colossal importance in medical industry during recent years. Databases with high storage capacity can save huge amounts of information regarding the clinical set up together with extensive health records of patients (Nelson & Staggers, 2013).
According to the firms that provide medical and surgical solutions, computerized charting is one of the prime measures that healthcare providers need to use during operations in order to endorse patient's safety. Moreover, computerized charting also facilitates the surgeons and other staff members to make certain that the quality of treatment given to the patients coupled to their safety are all in accordance to the healthcare protocols and monitoring regulations (Nelson & Staggers, 2013).
Additionally, correct information can be accessed by the healthcare providers at any time that helps in fostering monetary fitness of the patient, provision of safety environment in the operation room, and also to regulate the overall performance during surgery. Effective communication between healthcare providers enables the hospital to abate the cost of overall surgical procedure, which augments overall profits earned by the hospitals since losses due to bad management can be subsided substantially (Maurer, 2013).
Similarly, quality of surgical services provided to the patients can also be optimized by employing computerized charting. This is because the surgeons feel confident in using electronic data, as the chances of mistakes are minimal compared to the verbal or manual information. Furthermore, it economizes on time for entering data into computer systems. As an outcome, surgeons and their teams can perform well to provide better services to patients; thus, satisfying them and augmenting the reputation of healthcare/surgical units (Maurer, 2013).
Where computerized charting has claimed to be an effective mean in the operating room, there also exist certain barriers to its usage. Although the trend of adopting the technique of computerized charting is escalating nowadays, statistics display that there are many surgical units all around the world that are subjected to numerous barriers that hinder its utilization (Wolper, 2010).
One of the prime issues that have been observed is the security of the patients' computerized data. As the computerized systems involve networking and connection of the information systems between hospital, appointment department, surgeon offices, and operating rooms, it can be easily accessed and viewed by multiple people. This demonstrates that the patients' information may not be secured and may be misused (for personal or any other reason) to harm the patient, which can prove to be life threatening (Wolper, 2010).
Another barrier to the usage of computerized charting is that many hospitals lack IT (Information Technology) facility. Low-performance computers and lack of IT management staff create impediment in the usage of this technology in operation theatres since professionals are not available to develop and promote its usage. In addition, web connectivity is absent in most of the operating rooms; therefore, sharing and transferring of information between operating room and other departments become a problem (Wolper, 2010).
Multiple pieces of information highlight that employing computerized charting is very expensive because purchasing high-tech computers and installation of sophisticated software with high storage capacity are indeed costly. Furthermore, putting computerized charting into practice is intricate because of the technicalities associated with it. Additionally, the healthcare providers are needed to be trained before they can use computerized techniques. The cost of extensively training the staff members adds on to the overall cost of implementing computerized charting. Also, the training sessions are lengthy and time-consuming; therefore, healthcare personnel may not be present on their duties while taking training lessons. Consequently, there is a lack of staff during surgeries, which makes them disorganized (Vacanti et al., 2011).
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