Evolution of Health Care Information Systems
Health care technology continues to change every day. Comparing health care facilities of today with 20 years ago is very distinctive. In the past 20 years, how health care professionals view, look at, and store an individual’s health care information has changed drastically. There are so many obvious technological upgrades that will allow health care professionals and health care organizations to advance in medicine and health care.
Physician’s Office
Upon walking into the doctor’s office a patient would see a massive bookcase that is holding all of the patient’s health care information records. The receptionist at the front desk would be answering the phone, book appointments using a planner that’s hand written, pull the patients charts from the bookcase all while checking the patient in to see the physician. Now at the same physician’s office, the way it looks and the way it operates is completely different. The receptionist at the front desk still answers the phone and checks the patient in to see the physician however there is no pulling a physical paper chart to take back to the patient’s assigned room. The large bookcase of patient’s health care information is a thing of the past, now offices have high-tech computers in each room, along with the receptionist desk that allows the receptionist to log into the computer and check the patient in, or book the patient an appointment instead of hand writing it. The use of improved technology has benefited both the patient and physician, giving easily accessed lab results, the electronic availability to refill medications during the visit and having the ability to easily access the patients chart. Some facilities now allow patients and physicians to share health information by internet access and e-mail.

1990s
During the 1990s obtaining the patients’