Technology and Decision Making

2144 Words9 Pages
Technology and Decision Making The questions and thought processes that have plagued the mind of the physician and interdisciplinary members of the health care team for countless decades have been settling with ease in the most recent years. The 21st century has brought technology to the forefront of health care and has become a reliable source for clinical success indicators on several levels. Formulated clinical practice guidelines, with the help of technology are more manageable because large quantities of clinical data is compiled and organized by several indicators, in turn helping determine the best course of therapy for an individual patient with unique circumstances (Duff, Kitson, & Humphris, 1996). Technology is not only responsible for the way patient success and optimal patient outcomes are achieved but also paving the way for successful growth of health care corporations. The use of technology in decision making has been shown to increase efficiency, but what some say to be most impressive with technology and decision making is its ability to increase the effectiveness of decision making capabilities (Molloy & Schwenk, 1995). To understand better the capabilities that technology has on decision making abilities it is imperative that one understands the theories, models, and roles technology plays in the health care decision making process. Informatic theories Theories are practical because they allow knowledge to be accumulated in a systematic manner, and this accumulated knowledge enlightens professional practice (Gregor, 2006). Systems theory describes the purpose and how something works. The goal is to find principles that can be applied to informatics practice through evidence-based processes. A system could include both technology or people or a combination of both. Systems theory provides a framework for looking at the input into a system, for

More about Technology and Decision Making

Open Document