Why Technology?

Healthcare has seen significant transformations over time. The impact of these changes will continue to reach all aspects of healthcare, from injury prevention, to research, to EMS. The ability to respond to such changes will require leaders and managers to not only use best practices regarding their management style, it will also require managers to be aware of their cadence -- or rate at which they respond.

Consider the impact of technology in today's delivery of healthcare. While some healthcare systems have embraced this opportunity, other organizations may have encountered challenges. The following example provides an example of how technology can impact a system and helps to demonstrate the leader's cadence.

EMS system "X" has been a paper-based system since its inception more than 2 decades ago. In the past year leaders from the EMS system and surrounding healthcare system have been meeting to plan for the introduction of a paperless EMS documentation system. In the last 6 months updates have been provided to the staff in the EMS system and hospital. The "technology committee" has secured funding and is preparing to review the product offerings that are available through several vendors.

While the opportunity to introduce technology into the EMS system has been embraced by the leadership, several employees have expressed concern about the change. Questions and statements such as "Why go paperless," "I started in EMS for patient care, not to become a data entry person," "How will this information be used," and "Great, now everything we do will be tied to a computer" have been mentioned.

In an effort to provide the staff with information regarding the EMS system's pursuit of technology, the operations manager and administrator will conduct information sessions for each shift. The theme of the meetings will be centered on the title: Technology in EMS -- why our system? The following are examples of the topics that the leadership team covered during the meetings.

Improved patient care
Patient care can be enhanced or improved through the use of technology. This has been demonstrated through reductions in pharmaceutical errors as well as the use of programs that can guide treatment. Technology can allow for access to information that was once limited to textbooks and medical libraries. Unsure of a medication? Consult with your PDA's drug reference guide. Technology is considered by some to be part of innovation. Organizations that seek to be on the cutting edge of healthcare practices might benefit from the adoption of technology.

Reducing costs
While there may be costs up-front with the investment in technology, the long-term benefits will often outweigh them. In the EMS system "X," the chart review process is an extensive manual process. Each crew summarizes their shift's call volume by writing each call on a log. For certain calls, quality assurance audits are conducted. This includes reading each chart then summarizing outcomes on a separate quality assurance form. The technology that is being considered for the EMS system will allow for the above processes to be conducted by the push of a button versus the labor-intensive process described above. It has also been noted that completing the current paper system is very time consuming. Streamlining the process with automation will result in future cost savings.

Sharing knowledge
The leadership team and quality coordinator see the potential for the technology to support the staff's education. By having the ability to provide timely feedback to the crews, process improvement and quality programs may be reinforced. This type of information will also allow the EMS crews to have access to real-time information versus reports that are several months old. Information leads to knowledge. Knowledge can contribute to employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction leads to lower turnover, and reduced turnover leads to an experienced workforce.