Will The Medical World Plug In?

Will the Medical World Plug In

Do you know what the largest company in the largest sector of the largest economy is? I didn't either. Yet, McKesson is America's largest health-care-services provider. The company pulled in $88 billion in 2006. They are also ranked 16th in the Fortune 500.

McKesson has teamed up with Infotech and they are a critical part of their plan. They have come up with a wide range of hardware and software to accommodate hospitals, health care providers, and pharmacies. This technology has been out for awhile and has had mixed reviews. President Bush and his bunch of goons in his organization said the technology needed to be improved. Yet, RAND Corp. did a study that stated that the use of this technology could save $162 billion a year.

The CEO of McKesson says that rate of adoption of the program is picking up. Hopefully he is right that with the more use of the technology consumers will see a big impact over the next half decade. One of the goals is to help health care providers bar code products. Another goal with this is to get to the point where consumers can buy almost anything online. Also, people will be able to get online and fill out the forms and documents prior to the actual doctor visit reducing time spent in the office. As well as, allowing physicians to better organize and determine the needs of each patient with greater efficiency.

John Hammergreen says the main goal of the technology is to bring everyone together. He says, "We have to bring the difference between the worst doctors and the best doctors together and bring the difference between the worst hospitals and the best hospitals together." The benefits of doing this would be astronomical and ultimately all consumers could receive a 1st class diagnosis regardless of the hospital or doctor they were being examined by.