Technology advances have changed the face of health care. This paradigm shift blurred the boundaries between public health, acute care, and prevention. Technology's role in the diagnosis, treatment assignment, follow-ups, and prevention will be reviewed and future impact projected. The understanding of shift in our expectation for each aspect of health care is critical so that levels of success are understood. Technology advances in health care delivery will be discussed. Specific applications are presented and explained and future trends discussed. Four applications are defined, and related to categories of technologies and their attributes.

Obesity is a major health problem across the United States and becoming a progressive world wide problem. An overweight person could access the weight management program and develop a personalized weight reduction plan. The customer enters specific data to personalize the program and in the future an artificial intelligence program can evaluate customer behavior and adjust accordingly. This is an on-line program with class room support, offered as back up when desired by the patient.

Medicine Department Safe training is a computer based review program named de'medici and it is an employee training program. This annual review packet serves as a generic training tool. All health-care providers with direct patient care are required by state law to complete a group of 11 modules and pass a mandatory training test to assess proficiency in these areas. They include emergency preparedness, life and fire safety, electrical safety, working safety with hazardous materials, back safety, violence in the workplace, latex allergy prevention, preventing TB in the workplace, preventing AIDS and hepatitis B and C in the workplace, radiation safety, and age related care for health-care workers.

Stenter lets the health care worker order an X-ray that is produced as a computer image rather than on flat film. The health care provider can be in any location with the correct equipment, and view the digital image. The dimensions of this discussion are extensive. The cost savings because of reduced media and storage cost is substantial. Health care quality can be improved because of the ability to obtain consultation via telemedicine and the enhanced ability to track medical problems over time via trends. The major downside is the limited cost imbursement system to pay for technology. Unfortunately, this may impact on the improved quality of care. In simple terms someone needs to pay for the technology and the quality of health care needs to be maintained or improved. The real cost to the health care systems needs to be correctly calculated and inappropriate charging kept to a minimum. Specific costs need to be kept in mind and the first is the cost for new staff or staff training. The number of health care providers that are able to read the X-ray can be enlarged remembering that only American Board Certified Radiologists are allowed to give the final recommendation. How do we view the cost of missing something? It could be argued that this risk will be reduced because of improved technology for obtaining the digital X-ray and improved enhancement software. One way to view this situation is to include technology, management, and organization. The cost and benefits occur through the interplay of all three dimensions. The development of digital imaging hardware and artificial intelligence software will demand change in the management and organization. The organization will require changes in its design to accommodate the technology as to support and resources. Management will evolve to include methods for control and monitoring this technology. Business processes and standard operating procedures will change to integrate the technology into the organization in the most effective and efficient manner.

This application is an Intranet-based system. A database has been established utilizing patient information on the basis of age, medical diagnosis and employment history. If a health care provider or support staff states that a patient is over 65 years of age or has been diagnosed with a chronic disease and this limits the patient's ability to fight off infection, the need for preventive care is activated. In this situation the preventive care is the administration of an annual flu shot. For anyone over 65 years of age or with a chronic illness, a bulk mail of reminder cards with the dates of availability of injection is generated and mailed. All health care workers are notified at work of vaccination sites that they can use. In addition, should a patient have an appointment with a provider and a preventive flu injection is indicated, a reminder appears on the registration form. This reminder indicates a flu shot is needed as well as other preventive intervention.