also includes a variance column so the vet can customize the estimate for
the severity of the patient’s condition. An example of this is the
standard hit by a car dog would need to be hospitalized over night receive
a certain number of injections and IV bags. A dog may come in that
was hit by a car, but is not in as bad shape as would be expected.
The doctor would then reduce the number of injections, IV bags and hours
of hospitalization predicted for the dog. The price on the estimate
would change accordingly to give a more accurate expectation to the client.
After the estimate is complete it is printed to and brought out the client
for review. This saves the doctor time by eliminating having
to write this all out and look up the prices. Before software like
this was made available for use by veterinarians all of this had to be
done by hand and recorded on paper. Storing the files of all of the
patients who received care in a facility took up a lot of room and time
to organize.
Technology has changed greatly what a vet
has to do. The above information technologies play an important role
in the practice of veterinary medicine. Over the years, however,
technology has changed. What has been available to veterinarians
has changed as a result. Thus technology has allowed veterinary facilities
to accommodate more patients at once and accept more animals as patients
in their practice. This is because the time it takes to treat an
animal is shortened thanks to technology.
Section IV:
It is hard to single out the most important
aspects of the role of information technology in the practice of veterinary
medicine. Primarily because know one knows where veterinary medicine
would be to today if any or all of the technology that is a part of it
had not been applied to this science. Any information technology
that increases the chance of a veterinarian being able to save the life
of an animal would be considered important in this field. The list
of these would be never ending. The ones that facilitate vets. the
most are the ones that increase the speed and accuracy of the vets. procedure.
Examples of these information technologies are the idexx machine and the
IV pump.
Technology of veterinary medicine has already
had an influence on human medicine. An example of this are the use
of vaccinations which are now used both on humans and animals. Vaccinations
were originally developed for animals, but were found to be effective in
humans. The use of live-virus vaccines has been used on humans since
WWII. (www.encyclopedia.com) The use of certain information technologies
in the field of human medicine are sure to have an influence in the practice
of veterinary medicine. Antibiotics are another example of veterinary
technology influencing human medicine. It is expected that
advances in human medicine will affect veterinary medicine. The use
of information technology to enable surgeons to perform surgery off site
is sure to carry over to veterinary medicine. This will have a great
affect on the way doctors perform in this field.
To prepare oneself for success in veterinary
medicine all of the required graduate and undergraduate courses must be
completed. However, the best preparation for success is exposure
to the field. In order to be completely ready for the practice of
veterinary medicine knowing how to use the relevant information technologies
is a necessity. The best way to accomplish this is through additional
courses or observation. According to Tamela, a licensed veterinary
technician who works at the AEC of CNY, watching another vet. at work,
and seeing how he/she uses the technology to his/her advantage is an invaluable
way to prepare for success in this field.”