Dr Sanjeev Sood, Hospital and Health Systems Administrator, Air Force Hospital, Chandigarh
Information Technology is an enabler and differentiator of quality services provided to the end users across all sectors. It is an effective tool that makes the systems more efficient, accessible, innovative and productive and at the same time improves quality and safety. Healthcare sector is no exception and it needs IT diffusion at all levels. However; it is yet to fully exploit the various benefits of fast-changing trends in IT. Some of these trends have already found wide acceptance and some are yet to be adopted. Here is a lowdown on Top Ten emerging trends in healthcare IT that are here to stay and can transform healthcare:

1.Cloud Computing: This is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (eg, networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. It comprises five essential characteristics: ondemand self-service, broad network access, resource pooling, rapid elasticity and measured service. More and more Healthcare Organisations (HCOs) are migrating their data to cloud using SaaS (Software as a Service model), sharing IT infrastructures and reducing their costs.

2.Virtualization: This allows running of multiple virtual machines, ie different applications and Operating Systems on a single physical machine, with each virtual machine sharing the resources of that one physical computer across multiple environments. Virtualization offers two major advantages for healthcaresecurity of sensitive patient information and cost reduction of IT infrastructure. It delivers software thats more flexible, scalable and accessible, with lower upfront costs.

3.Health 3.0: is a health-related extension of the concept of Web 3.0 whereby the users interface with the data and information available on the web is personalised to optimise their experience. Improved access to health related information on the web via semantic and networked resources facilitates an improved understanding of health issues with the goal of increasing patient self-management, customised treatment solutions, preventative care and enhancing health professional expertise.

4.Interconnectivity and Interoperability: Caregivers should be linked to one another for every patient. Patients should have consistent access to both caregivers and medical information. Full and secure access to data will give physicians visibility into patient status and health history, improving diagnosis and delivery of care. Interoperability refers to electronic communication among organisations so that the data in one IT system can be incorporated into another. These technology solutions should aim to connect medical devices with HIS, one hospital department with another, one HCO with another and eventually all stakeholders together.

5.Mobility: With the use of different device types and multiple devices per users becoming common, hospital staff members have become increasingly mobile. They need to access their data and applications from multiple devices on the move at PoC. To achieve mobility, IT administrators need to move away from the current device-centric approach and towards a more user-centric approach. Today, the healthcare providers have access to smartphones, tablets, ultrabooks, COWs (computers on wheels) and PDAs; and they may alternate between devices, depending on their location and task requirements. While these devices are serving clinical care providers well, IT is challenged with ensuring that the right content is available across each device, with the correct levels of security and regulatory compliance. IT departments need to adapt how they deploy and manage mobility and device sharing in the HCO.

6.Convergence: Convergence enables the seamless integration of data, audio and video, for a consumer-driven healthcare. Convergence enables lower storage cost of digital data and optimises the flow of information between the facilitys equipment and systems. Also, it offers enhanced quality of digital content and an assurance of quality improvements in future along with high bandwidth transmission of digital content between any two places. To ensure the continued and reliable use of multiple patient care applications and medical systems, it is essential to converge the infrastructures upon which these systems operate.

7.Data Analytics: They can be defined as the science of extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions. The data has been increasingly used by HCOs as a part of Business Intelligence, to make strategic decisions and choices, and to gain competitive advantage in market. Data analytics in healthcare facilitates practice of evidence based medicine, effective inventory management and prevention of fraudulent health insurance claims. Today, analytic strategy is viewed as a key engine of a dynamic capability of an HCO.

8.Medical Applications: These are programmes designed to help HCPs perform an activity in a user friendly manner and specific for a particular OS such as Android, Blackberry or iOS. They could be paid or free and can be downloaded by HCPs and patients alike on their smartphones or desktops from the app store. These serve as useful tools in referring to and accessing medical or patient information at the PoC (such as accurate doses, Lab values or Continuing Medical Education); or for patients to monitor their health parameters (such as body weight or blood sugar levels), or better drug compliance or simply about disease education and management or EMRs and much more.

9.Unified Communication: It can be defined as converged communications that integrate real-time services such as IM, presence, IP telephony, video conferencing with non real-time communication services such as unified messaging, integrated voice mail, email, SMS and fax to enhance productivity and business continuity. It helps in easier communication amongst care providers, between management and employees, R&D labs, doctors and patients. It enables hospitals to transform information sharing by automating and streamlining the way HCPs, their devices, and systems interact. The goal is to optimise workflows in new ways that improve staff efficiency as well as patient care and safety.

10.BYOD: Bring Your Own Device phenomenon has become a fact of the modern business world. Already several companies support a policy allowing.

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