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Technology is continuously advancing, with numerous technological developments; from imaging scanners to intelligent decision aids which improve diagnoses. Technology automates tasks within the patient quality of care which previously had to be carried out by people. Rather than having nurses take time to give injections, infusion pumps can be used as an alternative which allows nurses to have more time to spend on other activities involving patient safety and care. Furthermore, technology allows for the collection of patient data and the quality of patient care. This information gathered can help to discover a variation in treatment and its outcomes, which helps to improve the quality of healthcare provided to patients (Thimbleby, 2013).

Compliance with policies and guidelines (e.g., Health Information Technology for Economics and Clinical Health) ensures the privacy of patient information, where systems must be vigilant in how information is secured. Nonetheless, authentication procedures can be time-consuming, reducing the efficiency of healthcare performance. The HIMSS (2015) survey stated negligent insider as the most common security breach (for example walking away without logging off). An example of an unintentional data breach was reported by a healthcare company returning equipment without erasing healthcare data stored. As a result, there was a settlement of more than $1.2 million (Department of Health and Human Services, 2021: 161). Security network information is another risk by having computers linked together within healthcare organisations, resulting in possible exposure of patient information to unauthorised users (e.g., insiders, hackers, or viruses) (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2021:158). Though technological innovation will continue to transform healthcare, network accessibility and human factors will continue to remain limitations, posing security risks (Mastrian & McGonigle, 2021:168).

References:

Mastrian, K. & McGonigle, D. (2021) Informatics for health professionals: Electronic Security. 2nd Edition. Burlington: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Available Via the VitalSource Bookshelf. [Date of Access: 14/11/22].

Thimbleby, H.(2013) Technology and the future of healthcare. J Public Health Research 2(3):28. Available From: Technology and the Future of Healthcare - PMC (nih.gov) doi: 10.4081/jphr.2013.e28