There is no doubt that as everything else is evolving with new technology, medicine is too. The issue is that in the US, our medical system is broken, and the insurance companies are too rigid. Doctors and other medical personnel have managed to work despite these difficulties and still provide excellent patient care, along with successful new techniques. With the advance of biomedical research, doctors will be able to better tackle health issues in ways that are cost-effective.
Automation is only one area where there is new technology coming to the fore. Because of this advancement, linear actuators are being used more often than hydraulic and pneumatic systems. They range in size from very small to huge ones. Aside from the changes that technology has seen, there are quite a few other reasons that have made these actuators necessary, such as the ever-growing need for power-assisted seating and motorized wheelchairs.
Sonography
The need for healthcare is constantly expanding and, as such, it is clear that a career in the medical field is always a good choice. This includes going into the field of sonography. This is another area where technology has brought change. Because of this change, the Bureau of Labor Statistics says that this particular career field will increase by nearly 18% in the next two years. Right now is a great time to get into that field and discover all of the new advancements that technology has brought.
Healthcare IT
This is another area of the medical field where technology has brought some big changes and will continue to do so. This is true both in Health Informatics and in Health Information Management. If you aren’t familiar with either of these or think they are the same thing, here is a quick look at both of them.
Health Informatics
This is where IT, healthcare, and computer science meet. It is the science of determining how your health information is gotten and used to advance medicine. Careers in this field include positions as:
- Data research specialist
- Systems implementation specialists
- Suppliers
- Consultants
- Systems analysts
- Database administrators/analysts
- Health information systems managers
- Healthcare chief information officers
- Directors of clinical informatics
Health Information Management
This is the practice of getting, managing, and organizing the personal medical information of the patient so that it can be used in hospitals and other healthcare organizations in order to facilitate quality care. Careers in this field include positions as:
- Revenue cycle managers
- Project managers
- Coding supervisors
- Health information management directors
- Data quality managers
- Privacy managers
- Compliance officers
Affordable Care Act
Technology isn’t the only thing affecting a change in the medical field. Politics has also made some recent changes…including the Affordable Care Act. Before this legislation was passed, there were an estimated 48.6 million United States citizens who did not have insurance. That is, 15% of Americans. That meant that many of us couldn’t get the medical treatments that we needed and that we deserved.
Since the Affordable Care Act, nearly 40 million Americans who didn’t have it before now have insurance. Because of this, there is currently a shortage when it comes to medical professionals. This is especially true when it comes to nurses. What that means is that there is now a massive demand for nurses.
After all, is said and done, technology does bring advancements to the medical field. At the same time, it also presents challenges. The U.S. needs to be able to handle these things with aplomb not just to care for its citizens but also to remain one of the best countries in the world.