Computers in Healthcare Essay Example for Free

Computers in Healthcare Essay In all aspects of life—home, work, socially—a basic understanding of computer operation is by and large a necessity. Even the medical field has become dependent on computers, both to record vital patient information, but also for billing, researching maladies, and prescribing medicines. This report takes a look at how and why health care professionals use computers, where computers are used in the health care system, and how all this new technology is affecting the medical field for both the patient and provider. Health Care Professionals use computers because they boost productivity. Health care staff, for instance, can more easily keep and access medical records. Specific computer programs also allow physicians to analyze patient data both statistically and mathematically, which leads to the creation of multimedia patient records. A multimedia file is an image, text file, a video clip or audio fileanything that can be displayed or played on computer monitors or speakers. An example, a cardiologist can use a computer to scan a patient’s EKG strip, and then attach that image to the patient’s permanent record for future reference (Spekowius and Wendler 38-39). The ability to store patient data on a computer hard drive reduces paperwork, and the number of staff members needed to maintain that paperwork. Having a patient’s file just a few computer clicks away also cuts down on the time it takes a physician to locate the necessary information. Beyond simplifying office paperwork, computers also open lines of communication between the patient and physician. Physicians who engage in emailing can easier answer patient questions, and cut down on phone calls. Computers are used throughout the Health Care System. Clerical staff relies on computers for reports, memos, patient records, billing, statistics, insurance claims, as well as charting and researching graphics. Nursing stations depend on computers for reports, patient records, along with hospital information systems. And computers are critical in the operation of patient monitors, medication delivery systems and lab equipment (Spekowius and Wendler 76). Also, in medical education, computers are essential for Computer Aided Instruction, Computer Managed Instruction, and Interactive Multi-media systems (Forman and Pomerantz). Beyond all of these uses, the computer has become increasingly necessary for diagnosis, research, publication retrieval (National Library of Medicine), and automated patient interview and history. Computers have become increasingly vital to Pharmacies. With the use of computers, pharmacists can fill prescriptions, control the dispensing, and talk with the patients through a video hookup. People living in remote areas also may use computers to order and receive their prescriptions without having to make a special trip into town or even leave their home. This is a particularly valuable tool for the elderly. Also, physicians now are able to type prescriptions into computers and email them to pharmacists, cutting down on errors because of sloppy doctor handwriting. Computers have become commonplace in Radiology. Radiologists use computers to prepare and store patient case histories, prepare conference talks, and to examine images. Computers are especially important when examining images; radiologists depend on digital radiography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear medicine, and ultrasonic imaging (Trovato). Computers can also enable a radiologist to view an emergency case from home, reducing the response time when dealing with a crisis situation. In radiology it is imperative that the computer system be powerful enough to observe very fine images; faulty screen imaging could lead to a false analysis, and possibly compromise patient health (Leach). Computers are also used in surgery to produce a three-dimensional image of the organ that is being operated on. This technology is especially useful to young surgeons, small clinics and developing countries where such sophisticated imagery has previously been unavailable. In addition, this type of surgery is less invasive on the patient, so recovery time and cost are reduced. Genetics is another area of medicine in which the use of computers has been increasingly useful. Pharmacogenomics, for instance, helps determine what drugs are compatible with a patient’s gene type. Gene information obtained from a patient blood sample is entered into the computer, which then determines which drugs may not be compatible before dispensing. In the future doctors may be able to use a similar method to determine the most effective type of chemotherapy for a cancer patient. This could save a patient from having a series of unnecessary and ineffective treatments (Mandel). Computers also allow access to the Internet, which can be a very useful tool when trying to run an office. Connecting to the World Wide Web can help lower costs, improve patient/member service and assist in the delivery of better-coordinated care. The physician is able to compile and analyze data from a single or multiple number of sources, reveal health problems, and even gains a better understanding of a treatment’s financial performance. Also, the Internet is a great marketing tool for a physician’s medical practice. The Internet is awash with medical information, which is both useful for patients and possibly detrimental. Some patients who should see a doctor instead try and self-diagnose using information gleaned from computer research. So many medical sources exist on computers—much of it valid, good information—that a person might read the symptoms and believe they have a particular disease and try to treat themselves. Faulty treatment of a medical problem could lead to more serious medical problems down the road. Another pitfall to consider is how web sites allow a person to seek medical advice by querying a so-called physician online. The problem: That advice may be coming from an accredited medical personor someone pretending to be a physician. So now with all this talk about how computers can be very beneficial to the medical field, one may wonder if computers do a better job than humans. The answer: Yes, due to a computer’s flawless memory. Even though physicians have the desire to be efficient and thorough when it comes to their patients, they are human and they occasionally make mistakes. Computers accurately remember vast amounts of information, which is especially important these days given all the emerging medical information and technology in the world today (Spekowius and Wendler 439). In conclusion, it is obvious that the medical field has benefited greatly since the advent of computers. Without computers the world would not be as advanced as it is today. New discoveries might never have been made, unnecessary tests and treatments would have been performed, and lives would have been lost. Computers are propelling the medical world into a new dimension where literally anything is possible—including increased longevity, cures for cancer and paralysis reversal. It is indeed a win-win situation for physicians and patients. Works Cited Forman, Lloyd J. and Sherry C. Pomerantz. Computer-Assisted Instruction: A Survey on the Attitudes of Osteopathic Medical Students. JAOA Medical Education (2006): 572-575. Leach, Michelle. Computed Radiography Vs. Digital Radiography. n.d. ehow. February 2013 http://www.ehow.com/about_6836650_computed-radiography-vs_-digital-radiog

Cold Fusion Research Paper -- Energy Research Papers

Cold Fusion Research Paper As the world becomes more aware of the growing need for a more abundant energy supply, one energy source has been swept under the carpet and virtually ignored. This source is cold fusion. Cold fusion is: â€Å"A reaction that occurs under certain conditions in supersaturated metal hydrides (metals with lots of hydrogen or heavy hydrogen dissolved in them). It produces excess heat, helium, and a very low level of neutrons. In some experiments the host metal has been transmuted into other elements. Cold fusion has been seen with palladium, titanium, nickel and with some superconducting ceramics.† (Infinite) In 1989 Stanley Pons and Martain Fleischmann announced to the press that they had discovered cold fusion. This announcement sent the scientific community in an uproar and the public news media went crazy. The public saw a new source of clean energy that had very little environmental effects. The scientific community saw a paper, which was not peer reviewed, of a scientific principle go out into the public without their consent. While the concept of cold fusion is contrary to the accepted views of physics, this small fact is not what had the community outraged. It was the way Pons and Fleischmann presented the experiment that caused problems. The accepted way of presenting research results within the scientific community is to first publish your experiment to the rest of the scientific community, have other scientist verify your results, and then only after your results have been tested and verified should you go to the press. Science often has experiments that are contrary to the current theory, when these experiments are observed the theory is changed to allow the results to happen and be pre... ...could all be showing the same effects without there being any merit to their clams. The theories behind cold fusion are contrary to popular theory and therefore naturally run up against great resistance. Theories on why cold fusion is observed are still being developed, but a definitive theory is yet to be reached. There is a need for a new theory because cold fusion has been observed in such a verity of experiments that the possibility of error is not probable. The overwhelming number of experiments that have produced an effected dubbed ‘cold fusion’ forces a new theory to be considered. Until a new theory is prescribed the world will have to do without the potential energy source of cold fusion. The world is in need of a clean energy source, therefore a theory must be devised and tested that will allow cold fusion to enter the physics community as a viable

Customer Segmentation Analysis

Customer analysis Segmentation: segmentation means the identification of customer group’s responds differently from other groups to competitive offering. It must have following features: feasibility, sustainability, and profitability. Generally speaking, we often use five criteria to segment the market. The segmentation can be defined by several methods; the first one is by demographic characteristics. It is effective partly because person’s life stage affects his or her activities, interests and brand loyalties.The second one is the benefits, because the selection of benefits can determine a total business strategy. The third one is price sensitivity, and it represents the trade-off between low price and high quality. The next important criterion is loyalty. Each cell of the brand loyalty matrix (organized by loyalty level and customer type) represents very different strategic priority and can justify a very different program. The last one is applications, as some prod ucts and services, particularly industrial products, can best be segmented by use or applications.In the end, we also have to pay attention that two distinct segmentation strategies are possible. Customer motivations: After identifying customer segments, the next step is to consider their motivations: what lies behind their purchase decisions. There are four steps to determine the customer’s motivations. The first step is to determining motivations. Although a group of managers can identify motivations, a more valid list is usually obtained by getting customers to discuss the product or service in a systematic way.The next step is to cluster the hundreds of motivation to groups and subgroups. Another task of customer motivation analysis is to determine the relative importance of the motivations. A fourth task is to identify the motivation that will play a role in defining the value proposition of the business. Also, there are three other important points that we have to pay a ttention to in understanding the customers’ need. Qualitative research, including the focus group, in-depth interviews, and customer case study, is a powerful tool in understanding customer motivation.It is particularly critical to gain insight into changes in customer’s priorities. Also, all the research should treat the customer as the active partner. Unmet needs: An unmet need is a customer need that is not being met by the existing product offerings. Unmet need s strategically important because they represent opportunities for firms to increase their market share, break into a market, or create and own new markets. There are two important points that we need to catch them.Firstly, use customer to identify unmet need. They are the prime source and marketer should get access to them and detect the unmet need from them. Secondly, ethnographic or anthropological research involves directly observing customer in as many as context as possible. By accurately observing not only what is done involving the target or service but why it is being done, companies can achieve a deeper level of understanding of customer’s needs and motivation and generate actionable insights.

Indulgences and their Role in the Reformation

An ‘indulgence’ was part of the medieval Christian church, and a significant trigger to the Protestant Reformation. Basically, by purchasing an indulgence, an individual could reduce the length and severity of punishment that heaven would require as payment for their sins, or so the church claimed. Buy an indulgence for a loved one, and they would go to heaven and not burn in hell. Buy an indulgence for yourself, and you neednt worry about that pesky affair youd been having. If this sounds like cash or good deeds for less pain, that is exactly what it was. To many holy people like German friar Martin Luther (1483–1546), this was against the teachings of the founder Jesus (4 BCE–33 CE), against the idea of the church, and against the point of seeking forgiveness and redemption. At the time Luther acted against indulgences, he was not alone in seeking change. Within a few years, European Christianity split apart during the revolution of the Reformation. The Development of Indulgences The medieval western Christian church—the Eastern Orthodox church followed a different path—included two key concepts which allowed indulgences to occur. Firstly, parishioners knew that after they died they were going to be punished for the sins they accumulated in life, and this punishment was only partly erased by good works (like pilgrimage, prayers or donations to charity), divine forgiveness, and absolution. The more an individual had sinned, the greater the punishment awaited them. Secondly, by the medieval era, the concept of purgatory had been developed. Rather than being damned to hell after death, a person would go to purgatory, where they would suffer whatever punishment was required to wash off the stain of their sins until they were freed. This system invited the creation of a method by which sinners could reduce their punishments, and as the idea of purgatory emerged, the pope gave bishops the power to reduce sinners penance while they were still alive, based on the performance of good deeds. It proved a highly useful tool to motivate a worldview where the church, God,  and sin were central. The indulgence system was formalized by Pope Urban II (1035–1099) during the Council of Clement in 1095. If an individual performed enough good deeds to earn a full or ‘Plenary’ indulgence from the Pope or lesser ranks of churchmen, all their sins (and punishment) would be erased. Partial indulgences would cover a lesser amount, and complex systems developed in which the church claimed they could calculate to the day how much sin a person had canceled. In time, much of the churchs work was done in this way: During the Crusades (instigated by Pope Urban II), many people participated on this premise, believing they could go and fight (often) abroad in return for their sins being canceled. Why They Went Wrong This system of reducing sin and punishment worked well to get the work of church done, but then it went, to the eyes of many reformers, hideously wrong. People who didn’t, or couldn’t, go on the crusades began to wonder whether some other practice might allow them to earn the indulgence. Perhaps something financial? So the indulgence came to be associated with people buying them, whether by offering to donate sums to charitable works, or by constructing buildings to praise the church and all the other ways money could be used. That practice began in the 13th century and was so successful that soon both government and church could take a percentage of the funds for their own uses. Complaints about selling forgiveness spread. A wealthy person could even buy indulgences for their ancestors, relatives, and friends who were already dead. The Division of Christianity Money had infested the indulgence system, and when Martin Luther wrote his 95 Theses in 1517 he attacked it. As the church attacked him back he developed his views, and indulgences were squarely in his sights. Why, he wondered, did the church need to accumulate money when the Pope could, really, just free everyone from purgatory by himself? The church fragmented under the stress, with many new sects throwing the indulgence system entirely out. In response and while not canceling the underpinnings, the Papacy banned the sale of indulgences in 1567 (but they still existed within the system). Indulgences were the trigger to centuries of bottled up anger and confusion against the church and allowed it to be cleaved into pieces. Sources and Further Reading Bandler, Gerhard. Martin Luther: Theology and Revolution. Trans., Foster Jr., Claude R. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.  Bossy, John. Christianity in the West 1400–1700. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press, 1985.  Gregory, Brad S. Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.  Marius, Richard. Martin Luther: The Christian between God and Death. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1999.Roper, Lyndal. Martin Luther: Renegade and Prophet. New York: Random House, 2016.