what are drawbacks of healthcare
Answers
Disadvantage #1 – Expensive
An increasingly sophisticated health technology definitely does not come cheap. We have to understand that all first world national healthcare systems face a range of challenges; one of which is the ageing population. People are living longer. So what does this imply? This means an increased health needs but the working population generatinng income to pay for healthcare system is reduced. So one consideration would be, is the high cost which comes with high technology economically viable for the government?
Disadvantage #2 – Requires time to adapt fast
As we know, technology is constantly evolving. Many a time there will be new softwares, new upgrades, new way of doing things. In order to keep up with the competitive edge, hospital staff has to keep up with such changes. This can be a struggle for some, especially for the older staff.
Disadvantage #3 – Over-dependency on technology
While once the staff has adapted to the new way of work, there comes the next problem. It is not uncommon for a computer system to face technical errors. The health care informatics system is no exception. This problem is especially crucial in the Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department. Various departments in the hospital are interconnected by a common information system. When 1 department is down, others are affected. For example, a patient was rushed into the A&E Department. When there is an error while retrieving blood analysis information, the rest of the procedures following it will be delayed. This will cause huge inconveniences, or worse; it may even have adverse effects in the patient’s health condition.
Disadvantage #4 – Susceptibility to network hackers
Patients’ medical history and other health information should be kept confidential for ethical and legal reasons. While the health care system network is definitely equipped with security measures, it is not impossible for network hacking to occur. Hence, this is certainly a vulnerability of Health Informatics.