For many of us, the internet is a massive distraction and prevents for being able to get any work done, whether it’s scrolling social media, shopping online or watching silly video clips. Luckily for doctors and nurses, it’s making several aspects of their jobs much easier. Here’s a look at just some of the ways the internet is helping medical professionals.
Reducing paperwork
One of the most frustrating parts of any medical professional’s life is often the paperwork they have to complete every day. Although it might not seem as vital as the hands-on work they do with each patient, most of it is essential in making sure that each patient gets the standard of care they require. One of the most time-consuming processes has historically been ordering the equipment necessary to carry out procedures. Back a few years ago, people would have to go into the store cupboards with a physical clipboard and check how much of each product they had and then figure out what they needed to order more of. They then would have to either fill out more paperwork or speak to a supplier on the phone to make sure those products arrived at the medical center.
By using the internet to carry out this process, medical staff can complete this task so much more quickly and have access to those vital products a lot sooner. Some suppliers will even manage and maintain the inventory for doctors, so the supplier automatically knows which products a medical provider is running low on at any one time. This means they can get the right number of products to the right people at the right time without needing to interrupt any of the doctors or nurses’ schedules too much. Some websites can even take orders directly from patients for things like repeat prescriptions or additional medical equipment they may require.
Narrowing down potential candidates
Another time consuming but important task is recruiting new members of staff. Previously, doctors and nurses would have had to read through a number of different resumes and application letters that had been mailed to the medical center. These days, most medical providers require candidates to apply using an online form rather than the candidate deciding the best method of explaining why they would be good for the job. By getting people to apply using the same online form, you not only know you’ll be getting all of the information you require from a candidate, but you’re getting it in a form that’s much easier to compare candidates. This means it should be a lot quicker for medical managers to decide who they want to interview in the next stage of the recruitment process.
Reading from a tablet
Previously if a doctor or nurse wanted to read up on a patient’s medical history, they would have had to search around for a physical file in a storeroom. If they wanted to research a particularly rare disease or illness, they would have to find the relevant page in the relevant textbook to conduct their research.
Nowadays all of this information is now accessible via the internet, meaning that the staff member could use the same tablet device to access all of this information instead of having to walk around the building searching for it.
As you can see, we’ve got many reasons to be grateful for the speed at which technological innovation is taking place.
