The impact of technology on the health care services in Gauteng Province, South Africa

Abstract

Modern technology has enabled global integration with an immense opportunity for sharing knowledge. This paper examines the impact of modern medical technology on the Gauteng medical services. Gauteng is the smallest of the nine provinces in South Africa with the highest population. It produces 33.9% of the GDP of South Africa, equivalent to 10% of that of the entire African continent. Gauteng has the fourth largest economy in Africa after Algeria. Although numerous studies have identified the impact of technology on the medical fraternity, little data and analytical attention has been given to South Africa regarding modern technology, especially its impact on medical tourism. Patients from poor countries lacking modern technology travel to South Africa to benefit from technology that has improved diagnosis and made surgery quick, safe, efficient, and reduced the post-operative recovery to a few days. A multi-case approach was used in this study to explore the benefits of modern technology on the health care services. An in-depth analysis was conducted on two public and two private hospitals, selected because of their location in Gauteng and their bed capacity. A five point Likert questionnaire was administered to the hospital managers, nurses, doctors and medical technologists. In conclusion the paper emphasises the need for improved environmental friendliness by utilising paperless medical records and prescriptions, and recommends upgrading technological acuity of policy makers and healthcare Managers about the impact of Medical Technology in Disease management