Halamaka, Sophisticated Clients, and E-Prescription

Dr. John Halamaka brought up many interesting topics during his lecture. One thing that I found to be related to our IS class was the fact the he emphasized that “the one constant is change.” Sound familiar? I thought so. Just as John McFadden told us that we need to be lifetime learners, Halamaka explained that the world is constantly changing. He specifically focused on technological, organizational and budgetary changes in the world today. He was able to paint a picture of what it was like to try to be constantly improving as well as maintaining a company’s system in this changing environment. He said that this task is similar to trying to fix the wings of an airplane while the plane is flying. Difficult? I think so. Halamaka also emphasized the change in clients. Clients are becoming more sophisticated and demanding as the years go by. They have become increasingly more difficult to please. However, while the customers are more difficult to please and demand higher quality service and products, Halamaka explained that vendors are decreasing in quality. Hence, it is necessary to meet the expectations of the clients while using what is available. One thing that has contributed to the sophistication and difficulty to please of the customers is the fact that everyone is connected through the Internet. Customers today can buy the same product from numerous locations. Whichever company has the best quality will win out and will receive the business. Specifically, Halamaka talked about how clients now expect to be able to access all their medical needs and information online. As we have discussed, today people are completely technologically centered. Why go to a doctor’s office if you can just click a button and all your medical needs are processed for you? Why trek to a hospital of you can just pre-order a refill of your prescription and pick it up at the local pharmacy store? The Internet has allowed for many to maintain their fast-paced lives. And how are people able to refill their prescriptions with a click of a button? Well, advanced IT has led to the development of e-prescription. E-prescription is the electronic-based way of prescription. E-prescription allows for there to be less human error when prescribing medication to patients. All of the patient’s records and prescriptions are stored in a database, which allows for easy access to a patient’s medical history. Also, e-prescription allows for pharmacies to refill prescriptions without the hassle of having to call the physicians all the time. E-prescription is a great way to satisfy the demand of the client because it is convenient and has become an automated process that effectively and efficiently gets the client his or her prescriptions and other medical needs.