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The use of PDA’s in the medical field has increased dramatically in recent years. When the software was first introduced, the main user tended to be a professional urban worker. This included doctors, lawyers, and especially importers and others in sales. They were better able to keep track of their work and appointments, and better able to track their progress. Today the use of PDA’s in the medical field has gone far beyond their original use as an expensive date book. The main use of PDA’s in the medical field may still be scheduling, but not just scheduling the doctor’s days. They are now used to keep track of the doctor’s schedule, but also to schedule patients. Scheduling is one of the main problems in the medical world. Patients may arrive on time for their appointment, or several minutes early, and still find themselves waiting quite a long time to see the doctor. There are a number of reasons why this might happen, but the use of PDA’s in the medical field can change that. The use of PDA’s in the medical field is especially important in terms of scheduling. Take for instance the doctor who asks one of his nurses, or the receptionist for his next appointment when leaving for lunch, and is given the wrong time. He spends a leisurely hour over lunch, content that he still has time to catch up on paperwork before his next appointment. Instead he arrives back at the office to learn that his appointment was actually thirty minutes prior. Now the patient has waited a half-hour extra, and he still needs to prepare himself for their appointment. The staff may feel ashamed because they had no way of contacting him to fix the problem. This could have been avoided by the use of PDA’s in the medical field. The use of PDA’s in the medical field also relates to billing. Patients often complain about simple billing errors that could have been avoided by the use of PDA’s in the medical field. They may notice that a bill was sent to their own home instead of to their insurance company. When they try to call the office to fix the problem, they are constantly left on hold and ignored. This may upset the patient enough that they decide to leave for another doctor. With the use of PDA’s in the medical field, this could have been avoided. Those are the two main uses of PDA’s in the medical field though there are many more. Some professionals use the system for references when they need information on a specific treatment, illness, or drug type. They may also use their PDA to help a patient better understand their condition, or treatment plan.
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