HCS/533br /
November 29, 2010br / br /
Future Trends in Health Carebr / span classtab/span Personal face-to-face communication is and will continue to be the foundation of the patient- physician relationship. Electronic communication between caregivers and patient through telephones web-sites and e-mail are forcing medical staff and physicians to rethink the way they provide care to the patients, the accessibility to on-line health and wellness information. Home monitoring systems, personal health records, and on-line support groups is making it possible for society to take charge of their health (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation,nbsp2008). This paper will look at electronic forms of communication new and old be used externally as a delivery source of conveying patient specific information, the impact of distance delivery on health care, the use of electronic systems to transfer records, and the impact of said systems today and a projected five years in the future. Physician practices, for nearly a century, have relied on the telephone to communicate to communicate with patients. The telephone have been used to relay lab results, handle consumers renewing prescriptions, scheduling patients for their appointments, and reminding patients of future appointments. In addition to medical personnel use, the telephone is used to communicate to other departments or facilities, unit to unit communication, and insurance companies. The telephone can be also used as a clinical tool. With patient who are chronically ill and have established a relation ship with the physician, the telephone can serve as a office visit (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation,nbsp2008). With advancement in technology, as the number of patients and physicians acquiring the means to electronically communicate increases, the willingness and desire to apply the provisions to ambulatory care ahs gathered momentum. Caring for patients electronically increases productivity, practice efficiency, and lowers operating costs. On-line communication can produce these results through reduced administrative costs, fewer telephone calls, and growth by attraction of new clients. Compared to phone calls, e-mail transcripts are less distractive and can be performed relatively inexpensive they are self documenting and can be done at the leisure of the physician. On-line communication allows the patient to read and reread to gain a better understanding of directives. The use of internet communication results in patient retention and patient satisfaction (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation,nbsp2008). The safest way to communicate on-line is by using a secured messaging system. HIPAA regulates that all health care organizations protect all patient health information, especially health information being transcribed electronically. A secured site for medical information is to protect unauthorized users from access. The most common protection for electronic information is installing an encryption system (Center for Practice Improvement and Innovation,nbsp2008). The Impact of Delivery on Health Care Information technology tools incorporated in medical practice results not only in service availability and improved quality but also in transformation