This paper examines the role of health information technology (HIT) in shaping the future of healthcare planning and delivery. It provides an overview of three emerging technology areas — artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and clinical decision support systems — and analyzes their current applications and future potential in clinical settings. The paper also addresses the critical responsibility of healthcare leadership in supporting, funding, and championing the adoption of these technologies. Drawing on recent research, the paper argues that effective integration of HIT requires not only technological investment but also informed, proactive leadership committed to improving patient outcomes and organizational competitiveness.
Healthcare information technology (HIT) is one of the greatest disruptive forces that will affect vision and planning over the next decade. Regardless of the technology that is developed, however, it must be supported and executed by hospital leadership to be successful. Currently, research is underway on the use of artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and clinical decision support systems in the healthcare environment. This paper explores how these technologies are likely to change healthcare in the future and examines the role of leadership in making the integration of these technologies a success.
Information technology is already an integral part of the healthcare system. HIT refers to a variety of technologies that collect, transmit, store, and display patient data electronically (Hemmat, Ayatollahi, Maleki, & Saghafi, 2017). This makes it easy to send, review, and update patient information quickly and efficiently. The current range of technologies includes remote and mobile health technology, cloud-based services, medical devices, telemonitoring tools, sensor technologies, and electronic health records (EHRs) (Hemmat et al., 2017). The use of technology across many different types of healthcare settings is already embedded in daily practice.
In the future, both the use and the types of technologies deployed in healthcare settings are expected to expand exponentially. Countries continue to make extensive investments in technology development for the healthcare industry (Hemmat et al., 2017). This sustained investment signals considerable interest in advancing healthcare technology in both the near and long-term future.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is technology designed to mimic human cognitive functions. One area in which it offers meaningful improvement in the healthcare setting is its ability to assist with analytics applicable to both structured and unstructured data (Jiang, Jiang, Zhi, Dong, Hao, & Ma, et al., 2017). In the future, AI is expected to help physicians make better clinical decisions, with many of the most notable advances occurring in radiology (Jiang et al., 2017). A particularly compelling feature of AI is that it can be trained through data to perform clinical activities, including diagnosis and treatment assignment (Jiang et al., 2017). Technology is also being developed that can identify similar groups of subjects and the associations between features — such as race and demographic information — to increase the likelihood of desired outcomes.
One of the most promising areas in which AI is being developed is cancer diagnosis. In a recent study, the technology was used to analyze abnormal genetic expression in non-coding RNA to diagnose gastric cancer in a sample population (Li, Liang, Yao, Sui, Shen, & Zhang, et al., 2016). AI has also been applied to detect diabetic retinopathy through retinal fundus photographs with a sensitivity of over 90% (Gulshan, Peng, & Coram, 2016). These are only a few examples of the uses of this technology currently under study and development. An examination of the literature indicates significant interest in AI for both diagnostic and treatment analysis. This technology is designed to assist physicians and provide them with an additional tool; it will not replace human intervention in the process. Rather, it serves as another set of eyes and gives the physician access to a level of information that was previously unavailable.
"Supercomputing capabilities and healthcare data challenges"
"Clinical support tools, requirements, and capabilities"
"Leadership responsibilities in technology integration"
There is no doubt that HIT will provide promising outcomes in the future. However, this technology is only as good as the ability to apply it in real-world settings. Artificial intelligence, supercomputing, and clinical decision support systems each hold transformative potential for healthcare delivery — from more accurate diagnoses to faster genomic analysis to streamlined clinical workflows. Realizing that potential requires healthcare leaders who are informed, proactive, and willing to invest in and advocate for new technologies. The bottom line is not simply about controlling costs; it is about providing excellent patient care and ensuring that patients have access to the best equipment and technology available in order to achieve that goal.
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