IT in US healthcare Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

IT in US healthcare - Essay Example A potential answer to this question is the slow pace of adoption of IT in the healthcare industry. In the last few decades, the benefits of IT in the manufacturing and service industries have been well demonstrated. These benefits can just as easily be implemented in the healthcare area. For example, much of current record keeping is paper based, disorganized, and often illegible. Thus, records can be easily lost or scattered, and are poorly linked together. This disorganization can cause up to 80% of errors in healthcare administration. Clearly, the information needs to be organized architecturally according to a designed framework while keeping in mind the privacy of health records. Automation and streamlining of information storage would enable the seamless flow of information and would contribute to overall cost reduction. Cost containment is one of the key drivers of this kind of change, particularly in light of the growing elderly population combined with a shortage of physicia ns and nurses. The rising proportion of healthcare costs with respect to the gross domestic product (GDP) is an important indicator of the significance of this issue. In 1960, healthcare costs amounted to 7.2% of the GDP. By 2005 they have escalated to 16% of GDP and are predicted to continue to grow to 20% by 2015. The increase in the average human lifespan has been made possible by the advancement in medical science and technologies. Despite the high cost, the availability of healthcare in America is dismal compared to other developed nations where the average healthcare cost is typically around 8% of the GDP [13]. Today, forty-four million Americans cannot afford health insurance because health-care costs have risen four times faster than wages [14]. Many hospitals and vital health care services are out of reach for needy Americans. The United States will spend 10 trillion dollars in health-care in next 10 years, which will have a significant negative impact on the economy. Worse, government programs such as Medicare do not cover the hospital costs. These unpaid expenses add to the cost private insurance for individuals and employers. To be sure, the cost of health-care must be addressed on a top priority. The inherent efficiency of the system is perhaps the leading culprit in producing these consequences. Condition of Current Practices is Critical Utilization of information technology in the healthcare industry has been minimal, and its adoption slow. Although health insurance is among the leading industries, 90% of the transactions within this $30 billion industry are performed by phone, fax or mail. Fewer than 5% of prescriptions from U.S. physicians are managed electronically. Most healthcare organizations spend only 1% to 4 % of their revenues on IT. This is half the amount that organizations in other leading industries spend on their IT infrastructures [3]. Clearly, more effort must be directed toward facilitating the implementation of IT in the healthcare field by addressing the barriers to its adoption. Some hospitals have already started to capitalize on this opportunity by using electronic medical record keeping technologies, and hospital information systems (HISs). For example, Kaiser Permanante allows its users to book and cancel appointments on-line. Such initiatives must be expanded in order to fully realize the benefits of IT for reducing the cost of healthcare. Indeed, they hold great promise for making

Finding God Seeking the Truth Personal Statement

Finding God Seeking the Truth - Personal Statement Example Let me elaborate my understandings by touching on the point that God wanted to establish personal relations with his special creation, the humans. The Genesis clearly manifests how a loving God created all things. But whether the detail of such creation is clearly portrayed or not in the texts doesn't matter. What matters is the reason why man was created in His likeness. He made us special because he needed a special bond with the works of His hands and this could be achieved through following His well, to obey Him, and live forever with Him. But sin had changed all these. Nevertheless, in spite of the sins of Adam, he gave him a chance because he didn't want this bond to be broken. Regardless of the sinfulness of all the people in Noah's time God redeemed his family from the great flood, because God needed to preserve the connection. He called Abraham from among the rest of the people to establish an intimate attachment with God and human. When Sodom and Gomorrah was rained with fi re he saved Lot again to preserve the link. Yet now, upon pondering this important truth I have found, it's never too late for everyone to have a special relationship with God. I realized and I am convinced that no amount of religion can reinforce such personal relationship with God but we ourselves alone. How then can we show that God is reigning in us The second apprehension I have mentioned is respect for oneself which is one of the signs I realized than can prove it. God created our body as a temple of the Spirit he gave us. I had been taught from my Catholic teachings that humans have the breath of life, the soul that instituted the direct bond to our God. I held on to this conviction and continue to understand that a part of us is immortal and would come out at the right time laid in our fate by God. The body served as the temple of the soul that needs to be nurtured. A clean body would mean a clean soul. I recalled that time when I usually recharge myself in the quiet and calm place where I can make connection with nature. Oh, what a refreshing experience it was when you sense the spirit of God hovering in nature making connection with your inner soul! But meditation is just one expression in our struggle to respect our own body. Respect for self requires both physical and spiritual nurturing. Doing away with sinful acts that ruin not only the flesh but also the soul is one way. Immoral sex, alcoholism, and other forms of wicked acts corrupt the body and weaken the bond with God. The values taught in the Kabbalah are essential ideals and guidance to make the flesh clean. Following the teaching of good values and the way to righteousness is the ultimate show of deference for oneself. The ultimate proof of a strong bond with God and respect for the self could be shown by how we deal with others. I considered this third point as strongly reinforced by the texts I have encountered. Our behaviors towards ourselves are less pronounced than our business with others. How we greet the persons next us, how we mingle wit our peers, how we act in public are greatly seen by others and are judged by them. Every individual have their own standards as far as judging other behaviors are concerned. A good attitude to one can be normal for others. A bad habit could even be worse in another's perspective. But most often the limitations of our actions are governed by human laws. There are absurd things that could be socially