Operating Systems In Healthcare

Operating Systems in Health Care Delivery

An operating system in health care delivery is going to serve as the interface between humans and computers. The operating systems will help to control functions such as network connectivity, file management, and logging on and off. The systems will also manage functions of hardware and software (Glandon, Smaltz, & Slovensky, 2008). There are different types of operating systems with each system offering different functions. Operating systems give a person the opportunity to interact with a computer. This is done by either a command-line operating system like DOS where a person would type a command and the computer responds to the command or a graphical user interface like Windows. With this type of operating system there is interaction through a graphical interface with pictures and buttons using a keyboard and mouse (Operating Systems: Unix vs. Windows, 2011).

Windows and Unix are big competitors. Originally Windows was one of the only operating systems that designed for Intel-compatible processors. Recently Unix has designed an operating system that is used for micro-computers and is now a competitor with Windows. Currently Windows is the number one operating system and Unix is now the number two operating system (Operating Systems: Unix vs. Windows, 2011). Because the Windows operating system is given with most computers when they are purchased it is the better known system.

Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows is an operating system that uses graphical interfaces and was first introduced in 1985 (Microsoft, 2011). Microsoft Windows is currently by far the operating system that is the most prolific. This system is used by many different computing devices such as cell phones and hand held PDAs. Windows technology is able to deliver technology that helps productivity, quality management and patient satisfaction. The advances that have been made in the Windows operating system help to meet the demands of the health care organization Windows is able to make the operating system more personal and friendly while making it easy to use.

In health care organizations Windows is able to make healthcare technologies help healthcare professionals communicate easier and more meaningfully with patients. The professionals are able to share images and graphics with other professionals making it easier to diagnosis and treat. Also with the introduction of the Tablet PC the physicians will be able to dictate to the tablet and it will write out what the physician says. This will help reduce errors in treatment as well as medication (Introducing Windows 7 in Healthcare, 2009).

Another plus for the Windows operating system is that it allows health care professionals to spend more time focusing on the patients and less time on administrative things. Some of the advantages of the Windows operating system are:

1. Easy analysis of data

2. Compliance of performance guidelines are improved which maximizes reimbursement

3. Timely and accurate reporting

4. Alerts health care professionals when needed

5. Protection against loss of data

6. Controls access to records

7. Gives health care professionals the ability to collect, manage, report and analyze data from different systems at one time

8. Greater IT effectiveness with tools which helps to manage upgrades, maintenance, and deployment.

(Increase Efficiency for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations, 2011).

Unix

This type of operating system gives health care organizations alternatives at a cheaper price. The Unix system gives users the option of using either command lines which give a user more control and flexibility or GUIs which are much easier to use. The Unix Operating System is usually used in workstations or servers. It was developed in the 60's and released by Bell Labs (Unix Information and Resources, 2011).

The Unix operating system can be obtained for free and worth a try to businesses