Ambulatory care generally refers to outpatient care. It is the care that is given to patients without requiring admission and retention in the hospital and can also be provided outside hospital. There are many settings where ambulatory care can be found. These include; vaccination camps, clinics, doctor's offices, the emergency departments in hospitals, school-based sanatoriums, and even prison infirmaries. Ambulatory care majorly takes care of mild to light medical problems and many of those that do not require hospitalization or surgery. Technology has revolutionized ambulatory care in many ways especially with regard to communication and information systems. Statistics indicate that there has been an increase in the number of ambulatory centers and in the provision of ambulatory care. The recent years have witnessed the incorporation of improved communication and information systems with new technologies in the provision of ambulatory care (Machado et al., 2017).
With the prominence of smartphones, computers and the internet, providing the needs of patients has been made much easier. Patients require efficiency, empowerment, empathy, expertise and favorable treatment that are in line with their economy. Technology has made sure that all these are provided with fewer costs. Technology has been the driving force behind the provision of quality primary care by caregivers (Rouleau, 2017). There are smartphones and other gadgets that enable patients to stay in touch with their physicians. There are applications that enable patients to call for ambulances, book appointments with their doctors and even get their prescriptions from the comfort of their homes or from wherever they are without having to go to the hospital.
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There are also convenient care and retail clinics. These are found in big pharmacies and other box stores for drugs. There are mid-level care providers on the scene ready to attend to minor problems and emergencies that may be brought to their attention. These care providers are always in consultation with doctors and physicians of higher experience through social media platforms and other interfaces that are meant primarily for the purposes of communication and consultation. This ensures that the care given by the mid-level care providers is accurate and approved. The information on the patient is always sent to the relevant hospital that the patient usually attends for record keeping and to update their medical history.
There are patient information systems that have been developed to enable easy access and keeping of patient medical information and history by large and medium-sized organizations (Roseman et al., 2010). These systems are run by computers hence make doctor's and nurses' work easier. In the past, people had to endure long waiting lines because the nurses were looking for their patient files but currently, with the swipe of a card or just the click of a button a doctor or nurse is able to access patient information and offer the relevant assistance. This saves time, energy and money and in the end, it saves more lives as there is more time spent on attending to the patient than updating hospital records. It is much easier to do inventory at the hospital with all systems computerized since all items are checked in and out of the system which updates itself.
The fact that technology has been used to improve the provision of primary care in the ambulatory care continuum does not come without its share of advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages witnessed, there is the easy accessibility and availability of health care regardless of the location that a person is in. This is provided by the convenient care and retail clinics. Patients can access their preferred doctors or their preferred medical options, sometimes from the convenience of their homes meaning that more lives are saved and less money, time and energy are spent on seeking medical care.
There is also the fact that large institutions can keep tabs on all their patients by having efficient systems for recording and storing information. All patients can have their information updated and are saved the trouble of having to reconfirm some information or waiting in long lines to have their files accessed. These systems are easy to use and access therefore convenient for big institutions and their users.
Among the disadvantages that are associated with the influence of technology in ambulatory care, there is the fact that all the communication and information systems are run by computers hence when power is cut off or when the computers have problems, activities come to a standstill, or rather there occurs a catastrophe. In most cases, there is usually no backup plan to contain the situation should the systems fail or collapse. Also, there is the concept of confidentiality that lacks with the use of social systems and those that are accessed by many people (Kluyts, 2015).
In conclusion, technology is the new face of primary care especially in the field of ambulatory care. Ambulatory care majorly deals with outpatient treatment which entails minor cases that have little or no need for hospitalization or surgery. Technology, especially with regard to information and communication systems has helped to improve the provision of primary care. There are patient information systems that are used for patient information. Some applications help connect physicians and pharmacists to their patients easily and conveniently. These have enabled to cut costs that could have been incurred in the form of time, energy and money.
References
Roseman at al. (2010). Utilization of information technologies in ambulatory care in Switzerland. Swiss Medical Weekly. Retrieved from: https://joinup.ec.europa.eu/sites/default/files/files_epractice/sites/Utilisation%20of%20information%20technologies%20in%20ambulatory%20care%20in%20Switzerland.pdf
Machado et al. (2017). Is the Use of Information and Communication Technology Associated With Aspects of Women's Primary Health Care in Brazil? Journal of Ambulatory Care Management , 40, 49-59, doi: 10.1097/JAC.0000000000000187
Kluyts, H. (2015). Can information technology improve my ambulatory practice? South African Journal of Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 21 (1), 59-61. Retrieved from: http://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/49621/Kluyts_Can_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Rouleau et al. (2017). Impact of Information and Communication Technologies on Nursing Care: Results of an Overview of Systematic Reviews. Journal of Medical Internet Research , 19 (4). Retrieved from https://www.jmir.org/2017/4/e122/
