What is it?
Technology in todays world is improving everyday. With that said it is important for healthcare providers and nurses to take advantage of the technology to bring better quality of care to our patients. Human-Technology Interface also known as Human Computer Interface (HCI) is the communication between a human and a computer system. When this is used in the healthcare setting, quality, safety, and patient satisfaction all increase. The aim of this is to allow for patients and family members to be actively engaged in the plan of care for the patient. This allows them to be knowledgeable and educated in important health care decisions. This also allows for nurses to spend more time at the bedside with the patient because they are not worried about what task they must complete next, it is all outlines for them. Technology has made communication between staff members, physicians, and all members of healthcare uncomplicated.
Implementing Technology in Healthcare
Applying technology in the healthcare setting has been a work in progress. Technology in healthcare was designed to remove errors and adverse events, reduce the amount of times an error occurs, detect the error before injury results, and diminish the effect of the errors following an event to prevent injury. There are many technologies that have been implemented into healthcare. A few include bed alarms, IV pumps with occlusion signals, patient call bells, code alarm, cardiac alarms, etc. All of these were initiated to decrease harm and risk of harm to the patient. Patient care technology offers improved nurse productivity, increased nurse and patient satisfaction, improved safety and quality of care.
Electronic Health Records
A major technological advancement that has recently occurred is the Electronic Health Record. There are a multitude of ways that humans can interact with this technology. Flash back to 2009 when the HITECH Act of 2009 was established. This act was created because many physicians were not using the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to its fullest potential. This act was created to enforce providers to use the EHRs and use them meaningfully. If providers are currently not utilizing EHRs to their fullest potential, penalties instead of reimbursement occurs.
The EHR provides significant improvements in care. They allow for a free exchange of information throughout the world to other providers or the patient. The ideal goals of the EHR is to design a comprehensive national electronic health care framework which leas to a decrease in duplicating tests, improving the cost effectiveness of care, and save a patient history. The interoperability of the EHR allows for a multidisciplinary approach to the patients care.
Patient Engagement
In todays day in age, patients and their family members are very tech savvy. They are using iPhone, tablets, laptops, etc. to research diagnosis, disease processes, and treatment options. Much of what is found online can be incredible due to the patients history or current status. The EHR has allowed for patient and family engagement thanks to this technology and the EHR. Giving patient access to their records and charts allows them to view their medications, appointments, past appointments, and vital signs. This helps to educate the patient and the family on their health and disease. Not only is it accessible, available and a great educational tool, but it is helping to reduce health care costs.
Nursing Aspect
Through the EHR, nurses are able to help create tools in order educate and allow for patient engagement. Nurses are the frontline of care for the patient and need to be involved in selection and education process of the multiple technologies being introduced into todays healthcare. It is the nurse leaders role to utilize the technology to its fullest potential and help educate other nurses to use it fully. Technology today improves nurse, physician, and staff productivity, increases patient satisfaction, and decreases cost of health care. Technology is a wonderful aspect of the world we live in, we need to take advantage of it to better the care of our patients.
Exemplar Scenario
Patient named K. Smith comes into the ED and was given a bolus for dehydration after passing out in the heat. K. Smith then gets admitted to the floor where she is on a continuous IV solution rate of 200cc/hr. Her nurse has had a very busy shift and sent a patient to the ICU and received two neurosurgical patients and now K. Smith. K. Smith puts her call bell and her nurse enters the room to find K. Smith very short of breath, assesses the patient and is found to have crackles throughout all lungs. The nurse pulls up the patients chart, reviews current vital signs which are HR of 115, BP of 188/96 O2 sat of 84%. The nurse then checks the patients previous history while staying in the room with K. Smith. K. Smith has a history of CHF. The nurse quickly turns off the fluids and using her portable phone contacts the covering P.A. The P.A. orders Lasix electronically which is reviewed, barcoded, and administered and then comes to assess the patient.
There is technology incorporated throughout this scenario. First off, the patient using her call bell when she feels something is wrong, allowing the nurse to enter the room. Secondly, having an accessible computer in the patients room to access her vitals, past medical history, and current chart. Thirdly, having a portable phone to communicate with the provider, and lastly, the electric EMR which allowed the provider to quickly place the medication order so it can be barcoded and administered.
The nurse can now show the patient how to enter her own electronic health record and see why she felt so short of breath. Educating the patient on CHF and how to decrease the risk of CHF flares.
Human-Technology Interfaces seen in Healthcare
- Temperature sensing catheters
- Oxygen and air regulators
-Code carts
-IV pumps
-Barcoding medication administration
-Patient transfer devices
-Telemetry
-Pulse Oximetry
-Cardiac monitors
- Morphine or Dilaudid PCA's.
To read more on human-technology interface in healthcare visit these two informative articles by clicking here or here
