Medical technology has saved countless lives in the past decades. From machines like ultrasound, MRI, sonogram, CT scan, X-ray, and more, the medical world has benefited so much from the advent of technology. But despite all these life-saving developments, there’s still a disadvantage of technology in healthcare that professionals need to balance.
Overall, technology has been the indispensable life force of the medical world. Without modern technology, we wouldn’t have the cure for diseases that previously threatened mankind with a high fatality rate. And amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic, technology proved to be our savior as it sped up the production of vaccines.
But like a two-edged sword, we also have to acknowledge the fact that technology has its undesirable side.
Below, we discuss these points to give you an idea of how technology has been affecting healthcare, both the positive and negative aspects.
The disadvantage of technology in healthcare
Technology in the field of medicine can be a friend or a foe, depending on how it’s used and implemented. Here, we discussed the potential risks and hazards that healthcare professionals face in the integration of these technologies:
1. Issues with cybersecurity risks
The main concern with technology in healthcare is cybersecurity. Patient information has been electronic to allow easy access across medical professionals and institutions. However, such convenience comes at a price: the risk of breach.
Despite having strict security measures and strong firewalls, healthcare facilities can still be subject to hacking.
According to a report by The Verge, about 40 million people in the United States alone had their personal health information leaked in various data breaches in 2021.
Previously, stolen or lost tech devices are to blame for such exposure. But nowadays, hackers have been targeting servers to get their hands on these confidential files.
Aside from the issue of privacy, leaking a person’s health information can have financial and mental repercussions.
Also, hacking can make it harder for medical institutions to deliver quality healthcare as they operate at the risk of a data breach. There’s also the risk of altered data, which can put a lot of lives at risk.
Overall, cloud connectivity is a big asset to the healthcare industry. This is much so if the involved parties adhere to the rules under HIPAA.
2. Reduction of patient and doctor interaction
Another thing that some people lament is that the advancement in healthcare technology reduced patient and doctor interaction.
It’s because technology allows remote consultations and access to doctors. This has been widely prevalent amid the pandemic.
Even though such a system is helpful to prevent the spread of diseases, the lack of physical interaction can be difficult for many reasons.
First, it limits the doctor’s ability to diagnose the patient. Consultations will all be based on verbal explanations of the patient as well as limited visual assessments.
Second, many people raise the issue that technology is slowly reducing the empathy toward patient care. It’s because many basic tasks of healthcare workers are now being replaced by automation.
3. Risks associated with poor implementation
Another thing healthcare workers should be wary about is the poor implementation of technological tools and systems. As they say, technology is great as long as it works.
Poor implementation of technology in healthcare can cost lives. For example, errors in electronic patient information encoding can lead to life-threatening repercussions. It will also put doctors in a compromising situation.
Aside from that, malfunctioning equipment and devices can slow down the operation of a hospital. This can cause delays in treatments and urgent procedures.
The integration of such technologies in the healthcare system must be coupled with efficient training. Staff members who will handle the equipment or systems should be fully skilled in operating it.
Overall, a technology’s accuracy, efficiency, and speed still depend on human implementation.
4. Limited accessibility to low-income individuals
Technology has brought massive improvements in healthcare, but it remains costly for low-income individuals.
In the United States, healthcare spending has been enormous in the past decade. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare expenses amount to 17.8% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2015 alone.
According to a report by Forbes, the monumental advancement in healthcare technology in the past years is partially responsible for the increasing healthcare costs.
This is because providers of such technologies have to come up with a decent ROI or return on investment. And since the creation of such technologies cost time and money for companies, they will have to pass on the burden to the patients.
Overall, the usage of information technology (IT) in the healthcare industry is still in its infancy. Whether it will reduce costs, in the long run, is still something to be proven.
5. Demanding maintenance and upkeep
The maintenance and upkeep of new technological equipment in healthcare can be a burden for patients. It’s because medical institutions would pass the cost to their patients to keep their operations afloat.
Recently, almost half of U.S.-based healthcare providers said that their technology and IT budgets have been increasingly growing. In fact, clinical healthcare IT spending in the country amounted to $18.9 billion in the year 2015.
Aside from the cost of maintaining IT infrastructures and equipment in hospitals, staff training also adds to the cost. Unfortunately, all of these expenses will be put on the shoulders of the patients.
6. Susceptible to downtimes
As much as healthcare IT facilities speed up operations of medical institutions, it can also become a cause of delay if downtimes occur. Anything from natural disasters, human error, system error, and more can cause this problem.
For example, when a hospital’s IT system crashes, tasks as simple as setting appointments, check-ins, updating patient information, and coverage confirmation will be delayed. In the long run, it will add up to the cost as well as the dissatisfaction of the patients.
Overall, these problems are manageable with the help of third-party IT providers. If medical institutions are bent to digitize their operation, they must partner with a reliable IT company that has a track record of working in healthcare.
7. Potentially higher cost
As mentioned earlier, technology can increase the cost of healthcare to patients. This is due to the cost of maintaining the IT systems, acquiring the latest equipment, and the overall expenses of running such technologies.
Right now, patients are shouldering the burden of the price of advanced healthcare technology. It’s because access to this equipment remains expensive.
For example, robotic surgery is extremely costly. It incurs additional costs to hospitals because such robots need to be continuously updated and maintained.
However, analysis at UCLA Medical Center indicated that robotic surgery can potentially help patients save money. A resident surgeon in the hospital stated that robotic surgeries account for reduced complications as well as lower costs for hospitals.
Still, the bigger picture is that the upfront cost of these technological services isn’t always affordable for all patients. Those in the lower-income bracket will still have to face the financial blow.
Final words
While there’s a disadvantage of technology in healthcare, its benefits are also undeniable. In the end, it’s about balancing the cost and benefits to ensure that it will be the best choice for patients and healthcare professionals alike.