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Advanced Technologies: Paperless Hospital, the Cost and the Benefits

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The Modern Hospital

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Abstract

Healthcare in the twenty-first century has significantly evolved over the last 100 years or so with the integration of telecommunication and information technologies. Concomitant with sensors, data storage systems, and other nascent technologies available today, paper in medicine is slowly disappearing. The convergence of these technologies permits us to manage our lives and manage our healthcare in different ways. In the nineteenth century, the medical community practiced based on what is new at the time. New technologies often took generations to become fully integrated. Today, technologies change so rapidly, and the healthcare system cannot keep pace. There are challenges to the “paperless” hospital, including cybersecurity and data integrity. However, smart people are addressing these issues. There are also costs and benefits to integrating technologies into medical care. This chapter presents a review of computing power, telecommunications, imaging, sensors, artificial intelligence, and – probably the most important attribute in this new paradigm – the human. Advanced technologies and its integration in modern medicine are the only way to address the disparities and inequities in the continuum of care from the cradle to the grave. Without innovation, patients must wait longer, data sets become unwielding, and every aspect of the system suffers. As we move into the second quarter of the twenty-first century, we must be vigilant in our investment in technology and evaluate the costs and the benefits.

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  1. Family and Community Medicine, University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Charles R. Doarn

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  1. New York Medical College, School of Medicine, Department of Surgery and Westchester Medical Center, Valhalla, NY, USA

    Rifat Latifi

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Doarn, C.R. (2019). Advanced Technologies: Paperless Hospital, the Cost and the Benefits. In: Latifi, R. (eds) The Modern Hospital. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01394-3_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-01394-3_15

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