First, the use of electronic medical records [EMR] can be the best achievement of IT in sector of healthcare system. EMR system has enhanced efficiency and quality of health care provided to the patients (Watkinson-Powell & Lee, 2012) by providing effective decision support and clinical reminder, readily access to the clinical information, preventing data loss (Singh et al., 2008) and improving patient safety. Clinical decision support [CDS] tool in EMR provides the health professional with quick details of similar patient’s histories and diseases cases in the past, their treatment and outcomes, which allows the health professionals to take appropriate and effective clinical decision with least failure probability (Chiang et al., 2017). The details that are likely to be omitted in the paper medical records might have significant effect on the plan that health professionals are preparing for the diagnosis of the patient. This grave hazard is avoided by clinical reminders in EMR. So, healthcare professionals don’t have to struggle to interpret illegible entries and worry for legible entries to be missed, which has influenced patients’ safety in a positive aspect (Gorman, 2013). The shared EMR linkages between the healthcare providers creating centralized patient’s information allows readily access over the patients’ clinical information no matter from where the patients seek health treatment, thereby rectifying the complications that healthcare professionals have to face in order to get to the medical history of the patients (Singh et al., 2008).
Next glorious attainment of IT in healthcare system is e-health and use of social media. According to Aysenbach (2001), e-health is the distribution or enhancement of health services and information through the Internet and related information and communication technologies, and is an emerging field of not only medical informatics and public health but also business. The Internet, social media and health apps are prominently affecting access to health services and suggestions, health professionals and patients (Berenbaum, 2017). Smartphone health apps are used by the patients and the normal users for wide range of purposes including medical education, diabetes management and pain management, and also for self-evaluation of different body processes like body temperature, blood pressure, heart beat rate, pulse rate and many more. Also, smartphone health apps are popular among people to track diets and improve nutrition, identify symptoms, increase physical activity and to provide medication remainders (Cho, 2016). In this era of ICT, all the patients, health professional, hospitals and health systems are engaged in social media via different social networking sites. Health professionals, hospitals and health systems use social media to communicate with the colleagues and the patients, facilitate medical discussions, increase health awareness, educate consumers and also as marketing and recruiting tool (Leiker, 2011). Internet provides opportunities to disseminate online health services irrespective of gender, age, orientation and location. Health education websites and online counseling provide internet based health education. Internet is the preferred channel for people to learn about sexual health (which people find uncomfortable to discuss in public), which helps to reduce the pressure to talk about sexual health matters with peers, educators, partners and/or health professionals (Minichiello et al., 2013). Also, internet is widely used by the patients to find physicians, clinics and hospitals. It is also used for getting appointment with health professionals. Moreover, online health blogs play an important role in providing preventive health education among the consumers (Leiker, 2011).