Health Care Computers

Computers are essential in health care. Health care agencies use computers in most departments to help save time and improve accuracy. They are used for record keeping, diagnostic tests, education, research, and many other tasks. Health cre workers must have a basic understanding of how computers work and how they are used in health care in rder to be employable.

During the past 40 years, computer technology has grown at an unbelievable rate. The early computers were made of vacuum tubes and required large, environmentally controlled rooms. They often overheated and became inoperable fo many hours. Repairing them was time consuming. Large sustems were very expensive, and only the largest organizations were able to afford them. Today's computer, technology allows computers to be smaller, more powerful, and less expensive.

Computer have basic components that you need to learn in order to understand computer terminology. All computers must allow users to input information, must be able to process information, and must have some way to output information.

Several devices are used to input information into a computer. The most common are the keyboard and the light pen. The keyboard looks like a typewriter with a few extra keys. One key plays a very important function. This is the enter keys. When you finish putting your information into the computer, you must signal the computer , your done. Now it's your turn. You do this with the enter key. The light pen looks like a pencil, butit is designed to sense the writing on the computer screen. The user selects one of the choices displayed on the screen and moves the ligt pen across the choice. Then the user presses the enter key. Other imput devices include keypunch cards, floppy diskettes, and magnetic disks or tapes. These devices are used for both inputting and storing records.