Running Head: TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTH CARE

Technology and Communications in Health Care

Kelly Erazo
National University

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTH CARE

A quick search through scholarly articles lead me to an article from Health Facilities
Management that discusses how health care organizations are turning to cable companies to meet
their communication needs. The article states that the health care industry cant keep up with its
own growing demands (Cable connects, 2014). Technology and communication are essential
for any organization to run effectively and efficiently, but especially a health care organization. I
chose this issue of technology and communication because it is an area of great interest to me;
my bachelor degree is in communications, and I believe that communications is highly important
to succeed in any type of industry.
The article also states that many health care organizations are finding that their networks
are not equipped to handle the heavy bandwidth demands of todays integrated health care
delivery system(Cable connects, 2014). Technology today changes more rapidly than before,
which makes it difficult for many organizations to stay up to date with their technology systems
and tools. On a smaller scale, imagine buying the newest smartphone in the market, only to find
out that a faster, better smartphone will be released only a few weeks later. Now, imagine how a
hospital may feel when they find out that a new version of the software that they just spent
several months implementing throughout the entire building is now available. It can be
frustrating for health care organizations, especially when considering the costs, time, and
manpower it takes, to implement new technology. This article focuses on using cable companies
to establish communication between hospitals located in different cities, and even states. For
instance, the article mentions how Time Warner Cable Business Class in New York City helped
OhioHealth System in Columbus establish a network that connects emergency teams at
community hospitals in central Ohio to critical care and specialists in Columbus. Time Warner
Cable helped one state establish a network within key locations of the state to improve not only

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTH CARE

communication, but service to the patients of Ohio. Furthermore, the article states that while 41
percent of survey respondents said they consider the ability to exchange information with outside
organizations to be a strategic priority, 21 percent said they arent able to support those
communications with their existing telecommunications capabilities (Cable connects, 2014).
Many understand the importance of effective communication, but it seems that only a few can
truly achieve it. As a result, health care organizations are affected negatively, which results in a
lower quality of service for their patients, and a lower competitive edge within the industry.
Similar to Ohio, many other organizations are working towards achieving effective
telecommunication within their organization and also with other organizations around them. It is
important that health care organizations first realize the importance of technology to achieve
efficient communication. Tan and Tan (2010) discuss in chapter 6 of the textbook, Adaptive
Health Management Information Systems, the benefits of three patient-centric management
systems: EHR, CPOE, and CDSS. They believe that the acceptance and regular use of these
systems promises to yield the primary benefits of cost cutting. Once an organization realizes the
benefits of using technology and communications to become more efficient, they must develop a
plan and put it into action. Chapter 8 of Tan and Paytons textbook discusses the PODC Model:
planning, organizing, directing, and controlling in order to meet organizational goals (Blue &
Tan, 2010). Health care organizations must have a structure that will keep them on the pathway
to their goals, and in this case a goal would be effective use of technology to communicate. Once
an organization has used the PODC model or a similar one, they can move towards the
implementation of what will hopefully be a successful telecommunication system.

TECHNOLOGY AND COMMUNICATIONS IN HEALTH CARE

References
(2014). Cable connects with health care to meet communication needs. Health Facilities
Management, 27(12), 7.
http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.nu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=3cd0b437e427-4958-9a9f-790584de70b2%40sessionmgr198&vid=10&hid=107
Blue, J. &Tan, J.K.H. (2010). Health Management Strategic Information System
Planning/Information Requirements. In Tan, J.K.H. & Payton, F.C. Adaptive Health
Management Information Systems (p.169). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Tan, J.K.H., & Tan, J. (2010). Trending toward Patient-Centric Management Systems. In Tan,
J.K.H. & Payton, F.C. Adaptive Health Management Information Systems (p.127).
Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.