In this article, you will get to know all details about “Advantages and Disadvantages of Medical Technology in Healthcare“.
You will learn about the importance, advantages, and disadvantages of medical technology in this article.
The impact of technology on students, patients, and even doctors in the medical field is explored.
I would like to discuss medical technology a little bit before discussing its advantages and disadvantages.
Healthcare Technology: Why is it Important?
Almost every field of life today relies on technology in some way. Technological devices are being developed every day to make people’s lives easier and to facilitate their work.
Furthermore, technology plays a significant role in the medical and healthcare fields. A number of technological devices and equipment have been invented in the healthcare industry.
There are a number of medical devices, including wireless brain sensors, digital thermometers, blood glucose meters, pulse oximeters, smart inhalers, and insulin pumps. In order to improve patient care, these devices are used.
All medical technology that saves lives is considered medical technology.
Over 500,000 devices and equipment are used in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
In the days before medical technology, doctors could only predict diseases, i.e. the illness or problem a patient would experience.
It is precise because of this that doctors have a hard time diagnosing a patient’s exact condition.
Since the development of medical technologies, it has become much easier for doctors to diagnose diseases and prescribe appropriate treatments.
Hence, technology plays such an important role in medical care. There are many benefits to medical technology, but there are also a number of disadvantages.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTHCARE
A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of medical technology is presented in this article. As a result of modern technology, we have been impacted both positively and negatively.
The following are some advantages of medical technology.
Advantages of Medical Technology in Healthcare
The first thing I would like to do is list one by one the positive aspects of medical technology.
1. Hospital Communication Systems
Various devices are available for patients to communicate with their doctors or nurses. In a hospital, a digital device like this is placed in the patient’s room or ward.
In case of an emergency, patients can use these devices. By doing this, doctors and nurses will be able to see the patient when it is most convenient for them.
By using technology in this way, patients and doctors can benefit greatly. The doctor can save the lives of the patients by using such a device without wasting time.
2. How technology improves healthcare in hospitals
The medical industry uses a lot of technological devices to improve the quality of care.
The quality of healthcare has been improved with modern medical devices such as portable defibrillators, drug management systems, MR systems, and electronic IV monitors.
3. Medical records of patients in hospitals in electronic format
Electronic health records are now available to patients. The complete health records of patients are often stored electronically by hospitals and specialists.
Records about patients are stored in databases or on cloud servers.
Keeping records on paper is slower than using a computerized system. There is less time spent on paper records instead of paper records.
Disadvantages of Technology in Healthcare
The following are some of the disadvantages of medical technology:
1. Patients’ treatment costs increase
Medical technology has the disadvantage of increasing treatment costs.
The cost of almost every treatment and surgery using technology, including robotic surgery, is extremely high. It can also be very expensive to perform other types of surgeries using technological machinery.
Rural residents and the poor make up the majority of patients. The cost of expensive surgeries is out of reach for the poor.
Technology has made health care more accessible, but it has also made it more expensive so many patients cannot afford it.
2. Display incorrect results of the patient’s condition
One of the cons of medical technology is that sometimes the machines or technological devices give the wrong results. There were times when it didn’t display the accurate result of the patients to the doctor.
Engineering and programming are responsible for making technological machines. It sometimes contains errors and bugs. As a result, it didn’t work properly.
If the test shows the wrong result and the doctor diagnoses the patient incorrectly, then the patient’s life is at risk.
For patients, this is one of the most dangerous cons of medical technology
3. Breach of patient information
In addition to its disadvantages, medical technology lacks information as well. Hospitals have laws concerning safety and privacy in order to protect patient’s privacy.
It is possible, however, to break this law due to technology.
Information about patients can be leaked from hospital computer databases.
The information regarding a patient’s treatment can be stolen or changed if computer systems are hacked.
When a patient’s entire treatment history is changed. There is therefore a risk associated with the next treatment.
4. Recovery is time-consuming
Hospitals use technological machines and gadgets designed by scientists and engineers for patients’ treatments and checkups.
In the event of a fault or error. Due to the lack of knowledge, the machine cannot be repaired or recovered.
Someone with specialized knowledge was needed. A fix can be made by the engineers who created it.
Therefore, it takes a long time to fix and recover the machines.
5. Damage to the cells and organs of the patients
There has been a surge in the popularity of laser surgeries in recent years. As a result, it has a lot of negative effects on our bodies.
Cells in the body can be damaged by lasers. Our body’s other internal organs can be damaged by chemicals, which are very harmful.
6. Providing online healthcare to patients
Doctors are now offering online treatment to their patients. Patients contact them online and ask them to conduct a diagnosis.
There is no need for patients to visit the doctors’ clinic. You can easily obtain the treatment at home.
It is possible for the doctor to make an incorrect and dangerous diagnosis without examining and analyzing the patient’s medical history.
7. Treatment by automatic machines
The implanted machine is permanently attached to the patient’s body. Based on the body’s function, it injects medicine according to how the patient’s body operates.
It is possible for these machines to contain errors or bugs since they were programmed.
Moreover, it can result in the wrong diagnosis being injected into the patient’s body.
As a result, the patient is in critical condition and dies.
Important PDF Files:
Some visitors asked for pdf files, so I am uploading them here.
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