Link to Article: https://hbr.org/2017/10/how-the-emr-is-increasing-innovation-and-creativity-in-health-care
This past summer, I had the privilege of interning with the Johns Hopkins University. Throughout this internship, I worked in the information technology department supporting the massive electronic medical record system known as Epic. The the Johns Hopkins hospital system runs off of Epic and relies on this system for patient health records, prescription and medical equipment orders, billing, and many more things. Although complex by nature, I quickly learned why an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system is necessary for modern day healthcare providers. The article I am responding to highlights the various benefits that EMR has brought to the healthcare industry. Some of these benefits I was already aware of because of my summer internship, and some of these benefits genuinely shocked me. The article first discusses the benefit EMRs have given the healthcare industry in terms of keeping patients safe. In the past, when everything was done with pen and paper, illegible handwriting often lead to wrong doses of prescriptions being ordered for patients, putting them at risk for overdoses. With the implementation of EMR systems, these orders are now done through a computer, with checkboxes that offer only correct medication doses. While I was not surprised by this specific benefit that EMRs bring to modern day healthcare, I was shocked to learn that medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States. This only further highlights the need for EMRs in the healthcare industry that help reduce the errors that medical personnel can make through poor handwriting. What most surprised me about this article was how EMR systems are actually reducing the costs incurred by healthcare organizations. According to the article, healthcare organizations have been providing inappropriate care to patients whose conditions didn’t warrant such care. For example: a patient would come in with a headache and would immediately receive an expensive MRI or CT study. EMRs now have built in evidence based checklists to determine if a patient really needs something like an MRI or CT study. If the patient doesn’t meet the necessary criteria for the test, the EMR system doesn’t allow the test to take place, thus saving the healthcare provider massive amounts of money. While I am very familiar with electronic medical records, and understand the need for them in the healthcare industry, I was surprised by the various benefits this article brought to light about EMRs. As technology advances, so will EMRs, creating a more efficient, error-free healthcare system in the United States. (Surprise) What Artificial Intelligence Can Do for the Future of Project Management (And What It Can’t Do)11/5/2017
Article link: https://www.itproportal.com/features/will-ai-replace-the-project-manager/ In the Information Technology field, there is a huge demand for project managers, as organizations implement new technical innovations to improve the way they conduct business. The article I am responding to addresses how Artificial Intelligence (AI) will offer a supporting role to project managers, rather than replacing them. While I agree with the takeaway message of this article, I am suspicious of the more specific details this article discusses. The article starts out by defining just what AI is. AI is not a bunch of robots that are outsmarting humans like what you would see in a sci-fi movie. Rather, AI (as it exists today) is made up of computers being utilized for advanced tasks, beyond that of traditional calculations. Think analyzing voices, faces, and text to find discernible patterns; that is what modern day AI is.
With regard to how AI could be applied to project management, the article first discusses portfolio planning. Essentially, an AI assistant within project management software would be able to go through a manager’s entire portfolio in order to suggest more realistic timeframes for a projects duration. The AI assistant would know through experience how long certain project tasks would take to complete, which is how it is able to form its own project timeframe. This however, is where I’m suspicious of this article’s information. No two projects are alike, so how exactly does an AI assistant form an accurate timeline that deals with tasks it’s never encountered before? This to me is the inherent issue with AI, it learns from experience, so it can only be so helpful when it is dealing with things it has never experienced before. Perhaps the most substantial benefit AI will have for project management is with objective reporting. The article discusses how humans are fallible, and all too often the biases of a project manager lead to inaccurate reporting about a projects progress. An AI based project management tool could provide an objective, matter-of-fact report of a projects progress. This would give the rest of the business a more accurate view of a project and could warn project managers well in advance of potential project risks/hazards. Artificial Intelligence has the ability to make project managers much more efficient. While AI is still very much under development, it can speed up project management by handling some of the more tedious and mundane tasks that project managers often have to deal with. However, project managers must be careful with how they utilize AI further down the road, as it can assist them, but not make decisions for them. (persuasion) Article Link: http://searchcio.techtarget.com/feature/Enterprise-IT-infrastructure-Outsource-or-upgrade-for-CIOs This article discusses several emerging technologies within enterprise Information Technology (IT), and how they’re being implemented. An important takeaway that isn’t explicitly stated in this article is that the IT professionals who are responsible for implementing these new technologies not only understand these new technologies, but they understand the business needs for these new technologies within their respective company. Today, the field of IT is more dynamic than ever. New Technologies are emerging at a staggering pace. This has led to an increasing demand for Information Technology professionals who understand how their companies are structured and how emerging technologies can improve their respective business to give them a competitive edge. The days of IT and business being two separate entities are over. The article discusses the town of Cary, North Carolina. The IT infrastructure used by this town was vastly outdated. There were numerous siloed systems (systems that weren’t compatible with each other in any way) which were causing a variety of issues. IT personnel had to be trained how to operate all these old, fragmented systems, and the citizens of Cary had to learn how to use these different systems any time they needed services from the township. The IT professionals of Cary understood the business needs/issues at play here and chose a cutting-edge solution accordingly. By choosing a cloud-based solution, the town of Cary was able to get rid of their old, confusing silo systems. They were able to implement cloud-based apps that served as a “one-stop shop” for the citizens of Cary, where they can do things like pay for bills or sign up for classes all through the same portal. The cloud solution that the article describes is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s a multitude of businesses implementing and experimenting with new technologies as a means to improve their business and gain a competitive edge. The article also describes Scentsy (a fragrance company) who is implementing and testing something called intent-based networking which utilizes special software instead of personnel to segment networks for security purposes.
While not mentioned in the article, not every emerging technology within IT is going to improve businesses. However, it is the responsibility of IT professionals to be knowledgeable about these emerging technologies and their companies’ respective business needs, because these emerging technologies just might be a catalyst for a serious competitive edge. Association (Information) |
AuthorChristopher Silverwood ArchivesCategories |