Welcome to the e-health revolution.

• Author: Singh, Ajit
• Position: Medicine & Health - Health care industry automates using database and Web services

DURING THE 1950s, people viewed the year 2000 as a "Jetsons"-like future, complete with floating cars, talking robots, and machines that generate prepared food. Now deep into 2001, we have not yet reached the future projected by that television cartoon series, but we have made great technological advances in a variety of fields, including health care and information technology (IT). As health care organizations learn to leverage new Web-based technologies, the industry is witnessing dramatic changes that ultimately will improve doctor/patient relationships, cost-efficiencies, and quality of care.

Until recently, the idea of a physician accessing patient data while traveling, scheduling appointments online, or consulting with other hospital staff via wireless messaging was just a fantasy. The time health care staff had to take to acquire patient histories, lab results, X-ray images, or pharmaceutical information could have been better spent on patient care.

Today, several trends merge to create a more-efficient, higher-quality experience for health care providers and patients. Four key areas where the health care industry is beginning to leverage the power of the Internet are integration of patient data, remote access to information, application service provider (ASP)/networked services, and e-business.

Comprehensive electronic patient records are finally becoming reality, helping providers reduce costs, expand accessibility, and promote quality health care. Basically, data captured from medical equipment is integrated with IT systems to give clinicians real-time access to lab results, pharmaceutical information, patient histories, test results, medical images, and all other pertinent clinical data anytime, anywhere. The future advantages of e-patient records go far beyond how they are being used today.

Certainly, patients will see the efficiency of not having to give their name and date of birth five times to five different people on the same day in one hospital, but imagine these records coupled with Smart Cards. You drive into the clinic parking lot and put your card into the entrance slot. In one simple move, you are charged for parking and instantly registered in your doctor's office for your exam, so everyone is ready for you when you get to the office.

Of course, with the transfer of records into digital form, patients want to be assured that only the appropriate clinician can access their private medical information. New security...