Using technology to help patients Chapter 2

Understanding the possibilities
One of the exciting challenges in thinking about
technology in health care is that it crosses many different
areas. It covers both tangible ‘kit’ and intangible ways
of working, communicating and relating to patients.
Technology in health care is not just about information technology: using laptops instead of handwritten
notes, or email instead of letters. Nor is it just about gadgets such as personal care
alarms, home monitoring machines or automatic injectors for drugs.
Really ‘smart’ healthcare uses a combination of all these things, making them a routine part of the service.
The potential for stream-lining the delivery of health
services, and giving service users much more control in their lives, is considerable.
using laptops to save staff returning to base for information, was
estimated to save more than £500,000 a year in travel costs alone.
So the more technology we have in our lives, the more time and money we save.