Description
View the following TED video:
Medical tech designed to meet Africa’s needsLinks to an external site.
When you write your main response, use the following questions to guide you:
- What technology barriers were present for the clinics in Malawi? Are these same barriers present in areas of the U.S.? What other barriers might be present?
- How did the implementation of new technology impact the workers’ experiences? How did it impact patients’ experiences? Do you see parallels with this in the U.S.?
- What is the specific importance of HIT in this scenario? What is the overall importance of HIT when it comes to healthcare management issues that are related to patient care and data collection?
Be sure to write an initial, substantive post by Thursday at 11:59 p.m. MT and respond to two or more peers with substantive responses by Sunday at 11:59 p.m. MT. A substantive initial post answers the question presented completely and/or asks a thoughtful question pertaining to the topic. Substantive peer responses ask thoughtful questions pertaining to the topic and/or answers a question (in detail) posted by another student. Support your statements with logic and cite any information that is specifically referenced in your comments. Post your initial response early and check back often to continue the discussion. Be sure to respond to your peers’ and instructor’s posts, as well.
peer response 1:
Abraham Elazazy
Hey Class,
In the enlightening TED Talk by Soyapi Mumba addressing medical technology tailored to meet Africa’s unique healthcare needs, several critical technology barriers were highlighted within the clinics of Malawi. The challenges of limited access to reliable electricity, unstable internet connectivity, and inadequate infrastructure posed substantial hurdles to have effective healthcare. Although these barriers may not directly mirror the conditions in more developed areas of the US, they resonate with challenges faced by rural or under maintained regions, emphasizing the importance of having efficient electricity.
The implementation of new technology in Malawi had a transformative impact on both healthcare workers and patients. For workers, the integration of technology streamlined administrative processes, minimized paperwork, and enhanced data accuracy, ultimately resulting in increased operational efficiency. Patients experienced improved access to healthcare services, quicker and more accurate diagnoses, and enhanced communication with medical professionals. Undoubtedly, parallels can be drawn between the challenges and solutions presented in the talk about medical technology in Malawi and the healthcare landscape in the United States. While the contexts may differ, certain overarching themes are remarkably similar. Such as heavily populated Amish regions in the US it may be more difficult for them to obtain adequate health care.
These positive outcomes parallel to the US healthcare landscape, particularly in areas where electronic health records (EHRs) and telemedicine have revolutionized patient care, communication, and diagnostic accuracy. HIT facilitates communication and collaboration among healthcare teams, promoting coordination and continuity of care. It empowers patients to engage in their health management through telemedicine, remote monitoring, and access to health records. This empowers patients to take an active role in their well-being and promotes preventive care.
the importance of HIT in the scenario highlighted by Soyapi Mumba’s TED Talk lies in its ability to address healthcare challenges in resource-constrained environments. On a broader scale, HIT revolutionizes healthcare management by improving patient care through streamlined data collection, enhanced communication, and patient empowerment. Mumba’s talk underscores the global relevance of HIT as a catalyst for advancing healthcare accessibility, quality, and management. While the challenges and settings may differ, the fundamental importance of HIT in enhancing patient care, data collection, and overall healthcare processes is a shared principle that transcends geographical boundaries.
Works cited:
Anderson, C., & Potts, L. (2020). The Amish health culture and culturally sensitive health services: An exhaustive narrative review. Social Science & Medicine, 265, 113466.
Lluch, M. (2011). Healthcare professionals’ organisational barriers to health information technologies—A literature review. International journal of medical informatics, 80(12), 849-862.
Mumba, S. (n.d.). Medical Tech designed to meet Africa’s needs. Soyapi Mumba: Medical tech designed to meet Africa’s needs | TED Talk. https://www.ted.com/talks/soyapi_mumba_medical_tec…
peer response 2:
Jacqueline Lescroart
The technology barriers that were present for the clinics in Malawi were that they had “long and frequent power outages, low penetration of computers, and slow internet connections” (Mumba, 2017). They also did not have adequate software or infrastructures to support the software. There are most certainly some of the same barriers present in some areas of the U.S. Long and frequent power outages are not nearly as common as in Africa, due to the fact that Africa experiences something called “load-shedding”, which is when the utility provider purposefully powers down certain areas in order to reduce the demand on the power grid. Power outages in the U.S. are typically caused by weather events (Ecoflow, 2023). However there are still many rural areas that have slow internet connections and low penetration of computers. I know this because I recently lived in a small rural town in north Florida that did not even have internet service and I had to run everything off of a hot-spot.
The other barriers that were present were the lack of medical staff so that every patient can be thoroughly examined, the fact that not every patient knows their birthday, the lack of street addresses in the slums, and the lack of patient identification numbers. The implementation of new technology impacted the workers by allowing them to use the new software to guide them when seeing patients. The technology also used algorithms to estimate patient birthdays, used landmarks for an approximate physical address, and assigned unique patient IDs that created a barcode which stored all of the patient information (Mumba, 2017).
The workers experiences were overall very positively impacted because the workload was decreased dramatically. They were able to see more patients and have more accurate assessments done. The patients were impacted in pretty much the same way. They were not waiting nearly as long and their medical information was easily accessible.
I absolutely see parallels with this in the U.S. I just feel like it has become such a normal process for us that we take it for granted. As stated before, the U.S. does not experience load-shedding and if we lose power, it is due to a natural disaster. In fact, the last time that we experienced intentional load-shedding was in in California during the Western U.S. Energy Crisis in 2000-2001 (Ecoflow, 2023). It is common practice for us to go to the hospital and be given a bracelet that has a barcode on it containing all of our information. When the nurses enter the room, they scan the barcode and verify the information for identity reasons. They don’t need to re-capture all of it every time because it is stored electronically.
HIT is specifically important in this situation because there are thousands and thousands of patients that are suffering from viruses and diseases that need medical attention and there are not nearly enough healthcare workers to handle the amount of patients. By using HIT, they are getting things done that would normally take days in a matter of minutes. It is also neat to see that health care experts from all over the world are visiting Malawi so that they can learn from their HIT advancements (Mumba, 2017).
References
Ecoflow. (2023, April 28). What is load-shedding?. EcoFlow US Blog. https://blog.ecoflow.com/us/what-is-load-shedding/Links to an external site.
Mumba, S. (2017, August). Medical tech designed to meet Africa’s needs [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/soyapi_mumba_medical_tech_designed_to_meet_africa_s_needsLinks to an external site.
