Match the words with their
meanings.
|
budget
error
breakthrough
pandemic
bioterrorism
consultation
symptoms
ailments
diagnosis
fatal |
terrorist acts involving the use of biological or chemical weapons
signs of illness
serious; causing death
illness; disease
finding out what illness a person has
mistake
financial plan
meeting/discussion with doctor
important development
deadly disease |
******
There is a major effort to computerize
the nation's medical records, including what is expected to be between $100 million and $200 million in funding for the program
in the budget.
Those in favour say electronic medical
records could save $140 billion a year in health care expenses on things like file clerks and space for file cabinets, while
also saving tens of thousands of lives each year by reducing medical errors.
The national coordinator for health
information technology, David Brailer, told The New York Sun that the administration
will start by making public "breakthrough" health information technology plans that may be completed by year's end. They include
nationwide computerized personal medication histories, so that a doctor anywhere in the country can know what medications
a patient is taking before treating him; providing "secure messaging" to allow for private e-mail and other electronic correspondence
directly between doctors and patients, and "bio surveillance," which uses computerized records to monitor diseases and better
treatment of pandemics or bioterrorism attacks.
At least some doctors' offices, however, are moving ahead on their own. One
example is a “paperless” practice founded and partly owned by Mr. Doroshuk, Washington ENT. The office of the
six-year-old ear, nose, and throat practice has no filing cabinets. There are no rooms full of shelves lined with folders.
Instead, patients' insurance, medication, examination and treatment records are maintained on eight Dell servers in a large
closet.
Washington ENT’s doctors use software provided by A4 Health Systems of
Cary, N.C. - one of around 1,200 companies nationwide specializing in electronic health records - that organizes and updates
their schedules, patients' medical histories, patient correspondence, examination notes, and lab results. Washington ENT's
records are backed up at a separate location, protecting the data. The system also allows doctors to view the information
from home, and when their pagers buzz in the middle of the night with a medical emergency, each doctor has the patient's entire
medical record instantly available.
Doctors' computers are also connected to Washington ENT's laboratory, and every
half hour the computers check automatically for updates and alert the doctors when new test results are in. Mr. Doroshuk said
the technology greatly reduces the time between a patient's first consultation with a doctor and his receiving treatment,
allowing each of Washington ENT's four doctors to see between 30 and 35 patients a day.
The practice's technology also improves the quality of doctors' service. When
a patient's symptoms are entered into the computer, for example, the practice's software maps out all the possible ailments
those symptoms might indicate. When a patient comes in with a runny nose and headache during allergy season, many doctors
might automatically identify as an allergy what may in fact be a sinus infection. The software, Mr. Doroshuk said, helps doctors
"think outside the box," increasing the chances that a patient will get an accurate diagnosis sooner.
Analysts say the use of electronic records reduces unnecessary and improper
treatments, and cuts back on potentially fatal medical errors resulting from incomplete or incorrect information in a patient's
medical file.
Choose
the correct answer.
1.
The federal budget is expected to fund between ____________ for computerized medical records.
A.
$ 1 million and $ 2 million
B.$
2 million and $ 3 million
C. $ 100 million and $ 200 million
D.$ 3 million and $ 4 million
2. Electronic medical records could
save ____________ a year.
A.
$ 100 billion
B.
$ 140 billion
C. $ 240 billion
D. $ 150 billion
3. The ‘breakthrough’ health
information technology includes
A.
computerized medication histories of patients
B.
secure electronic correspondence between doctor and patient
C.
monitoring of disease outbreaks
D. all of the above
4. The offices of the Washington ENT
practice have no__________
A.
filing cabinets
B.
computers
C. rooms
D. medicine
5. The software provided by A4 Health
Systems organizes and updates
A.
doctors’ schedules
B.
patient’s medical histories
C. lab results
D. all of the above
6. The system used at Washington ENT
allows doctors to___________.
A.
call home from hospital
B.
call the patient from home
C. view information from home
D. call the patient home
7. Doctors’ computers are connected
to Washington ENT’s ______________.
A.
pharmacy
B.
reception
C. wards
D. laboratory
8. The doctors’ computers check
automatically for updates every ___________ hour.
A.
one
B.
two
C. half
D. one and a half
9.
The system allows Washington ENT’s four doctors to see ____________ patients a day.
A.
30-35
B.
20-30
C. 30-40
D. 25-35
10. The use of electronic records reduces
the possibility of ______________.
A.
accurate diagnosis
B.
fatal medical errors
C. improper treatment
D. both (B) and (C)
Answer
the following questions.
11.
How can electronic medical records save expenses?
12.
What is the benefit of a nationwide computerized medication record?
13.
How can technology improve the quality of doctors’ service?
X-ray
Technology in the 21st Century
Anyone who has ever sprained an ankle or dislocated a shoulder will know the
feeling of dread at having to visit a big Accident and Emergency (A&E) department. But what if you could visit a local
nurse-led minor injuries unit and get an X-ray which can be examined by a radiologist based elsewhere?
Around half the hospitals in England now use a digital
system that allows radiologists and doctors to access all images, including CT, MRI and X-ray, on a computer screen. Doctors
and nurses on the wards, A&E or outpatients can view images immediately and get a quick second opinion from a radiologist
looking at the same image on a screen in their office.
St Mary's hospital in West London has been using the
technology for almost a year. Dr Deborah Cunningham, director of the Radiology Department at St Mary's, said their minor injuries
unit based in another hospital was "really appreciated" by the local people.
“The nurses can read X-rays but if there is something
they don't understand they can ring up and ask us what's wrong and we can look at it immediately.”
As well as quick and easy access to images for the most
seriously ill patients in A&E and intensive care, staff in fracture clinics and chest clinics no longer have to spend
hours getting images together - they are available at the click of a mouse button.
The radiology department at St Mary's, which processes
around 250,000 X-rays a year, has saved so much space on storage of films they are planning to put in a new children's waiting
room.
The technology also means that repeat X-rays, which
were often needed if the film went missing or if the image was not clear enough to make a diagnosis, are rare because radiologists
can manipulate the image on screen.
“We can improve on what the radiographer has done
- we can change the contrast, we can magnify it, sharpen the image up,” explains Dr Cunningham. “We can put all
the imaging side by side, for example X-ray and CT, and it automatically brings up the last image for the patient so you can
compare it without having to go hunt for the file.”
It is hoped that the technology makes it less likely
for a diagnosis to be missed. Dr Onn Min Kon, consultant chest physician at St Mary's, said the technology was a big plus.
“If someone's got a lot of imaging you don't have to fumble through
50 films to find the right one.”
He added that a surgeon, oncologist and chest physician could get together
to discuss a diagnosis or treatment with the images on a screen in a meeting room or even over the phone from different offices.
Eventually the plan is to link digital images with the
patients’ electronic record, although there are many difficulties to overcome before this can be done.
Dr Cunningham says she cannot see a downside and although
there may be problems with the electronic patient record, such as ensuring security, the advantages will outweigh the disadvantages.
Match the columns.
|
1. Radiologists
and doctors can access images on
2. Doctors and nurses
can get a second opinion from
3. X-ray
images are now available at
4. Radiologists
can
5. A surgeon, oncologist
and chest physician can discuss a treatment in
|
a. manipulate images
b. a meeting room or over the phone
c. a radiologist
d. a computer screen
e. the click of a mouse button |
Answer the following questions.
6. What does A&E stand for?
7. What does a radiologist do?
8. What are the advantages of the
technology used at St. Mary’s hospital?
9. What is the
disadvantage of electronic patient records?
Sources:
Clyne, M. 2006, ‘President to Push Medical Record Computerization’, viewed 7 February 2007, <http://www.nysun.com/article/25457?page_no=2>
X-Ray Technology in the 21st Century
Wilkinson,
E. 2007, ‘X-Ray Technology in the 21st Century’, viewed 10 September 2007,
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6700847.stm>
