Information technology has become a major driving force for many industries, most especially in medical technology and healthcare systems. In healthcare, when one thinks of technological advances, mostly one refers to technologies that lead to clinical, diagnostic and therapeutic systems. What is often overlooked is the potential for using existing information technologies such as the Internet infrastructure including web portals and networking solutions, to further develop their interoperability across systems as well as facilitate research development in many areas of healthcare.
The purpose of the study is to make an analysis on the impact of information technology on GE Healthcare, the current state of its information technology use and to make recommendations on how to utilize the challenges and opportunities that it presents in order to meet the company’s over-all objectives. It will show how GE Healthcare has utilized information technology at present and make recommendations as to how the company can further enhance its capabilities in order to meet its consolidate and strengthen its position as one of the foremost providers of medical technology and equipment systems..
Company Background General Electric Healthcare is one of the major subsidiaries of the General Electric Company, a company founded by the great pioneer and inventor, Thomas Edison. In 2004, GE Healthcare was born from the merger of Amersham PLC and GE Medical Systems. Amersham PLC is a British firm which specialized in diagnostic agents, gene-sequencing and protein separation for drug development. The purchase of Amersham at that time was the largest acquisition in GE history. (“General Electric Company – History,” 2007)
GE Healthcare has become a prime mover in the medical technology sector, offering advanced technologies for radiography and other imaging systems as well as patient information and monitoring systems. The company has also made some inroads in drug development and discovery, and clinical diagnostic support systems. GE Healthcare has made significant progress in facilitating better patient care in institutions by innovating predictive, diagnostic and therapeutic equipment that are used, and their aim has to develop more products that would further improve disease management.
Currently, the medical technology unit is worth $17 billion to mother company General Electric and services healthcare institutions and medical professionals all over the world. Based in the UK, GE Healthcare was 46,000 employed in several business sub-units. Each sub-unit focuses on a different aspect of medical technology under one unified vision of developing the market for wider reach. These sub-units are described in the following section. 1. The Diagnostic Imaging sub-unit of GE Healthcare provides cutting-edge imaging technology that they are non-invasive, with shorter turn-around times than existing systems.
These technologies have applications not only for regular radiographic and diagnostic use but in the emergency room to provide quick data for diagnosis for trauma cases. Early diagnostic systems can detect certain kinds of cancers and brain disorders that will benefit from early intervention. 2. The GE Healthcare Global Services primary sub-unit is the service provider that establishes and maintains business and administrative application systems in the healthcare environment. These include systems for workflow management, financial planning and medical professional training certification.
In general, the Clinical Systems sub-unit provides the medical systems geared towards improving patient care through wellness screening and advanced clinical diagnostic systems, as well as life-saving systems. Life Sciences is the pharmaceutical development sub-unit that discover, develop and manufacture drugs as well as cellular technologies geared towards early detection and diagnosis of diseases. 4. Aside from producing machines that improve imaging, GE Healthcare has the Medical Diagnostics sub-unit that produces the reagents and scanning media that increase the efficiency of clinical diagnostic equipment.
The Interventional, Cardiology and Surgery sub-unit, on the other hand, seeks ways to minimize the risks in surgical procedures by integrating cardiac, surgical and interventional tools and technologies. 5. An innovative and wholly practical business unit is the GE Healthcare Financial Services. Although may be considered more of a financial solution provider, its exclusive focus on the specific financial needs of the healthcare industry makes it an important part of GE Healthcare as a medical solutions provider.
Its comprehensive business and financial resources provide value solutions for healthcare entities. Launched in 2002, it now has a total of $ 16 billion worth of assets with over 950 employees and 35,000 customers worldwide. Products and services include equipment financing, Information systems financing, real estate, working capital, acquisitions financing, re-capitalization, turnarounds, vendor programs, practice acquisitions, and equity investing.
GE Healthcare Financial Services provides financial solutions to all types of healthcare organizations, which include hospitals & health systems, ambulatory care providers, healthcare practices, life sciences, pharmaceuticals & biotechnology, medical device manufacturers & suppliers, senior care providers, healthcare services providers, and even bankers, brokers, sponsors, consultants, financial advisors and management firms who work with these healthcare organizations.
(“GE Healthcare Facts Sheet,” 2007; “GE Healthcare Financial Services, Fact Sheet,” 2007) A recommendation for a possible extension of these services will be provided later in this paper 6. And finally, the Integrated IT Solutions business of GE Healthcare provides clinical & financial information technology solutions to help customers improve the quality of medical care for their patients by improving the organization of medical data, maximizing workflows and processes and streamlining healthcare costs.
Their main integrated clinical, financial and administrative solution is the electronic medical record system, Centricity® Enterprise Solution. Its information management function gives physicians, clinicians and other health care professionals easier access to critical clinical information allowing for better and faster patient care. It also reduces administrative workload allowing for a more streamlined workflow and includes automation of the charging process. (“Scripps Selects GE’S Centricity Enterprise. ” 2007)