DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD ROMUALDEZ MEDICAL FOUNDATION, INC.
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Principles of Medical Laboratory Science 1
Lesson 9: CURRENT TRENDS IN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Clinical Laboratory Practice in the 21st Century

Normal procedure of medical transcription includes
dictating medical notes in some recording device to be
translated by an expert transcriber followed by vetting
and authentication by the physician.

Through voice recognition, the physician can dictate
directly into a computer that recognizes the spoken
words and translates them into text.

The report can be printed and placed in the medical
chart or electronically in EMR/EHR making it a part of
the medical record.

The Health Information System (HIS) refers to the
system designed to manage healthcare data.

This includes systems that collect, store, manage and
transmit a patient’s electronic medical record and the
hospital’s operational management.

HIS also includes those systems that handle data
related to the activities of providers and health
organizations. Because health information systems
commonly access, process, or maintain large volumes
of sensitive data, security is a primary concern.



The Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic
Health Record (EHR) are the electronic versions of the
medical record.
EMR is restricted to within the facility while the EHR is
interlinked between facilities and can be accessed
from outside using Internet through wired or wireless
technology.
It can help the physician to view medical record with
the touch of button or click of a mouse including
medical histories, lab reports, and diagnostic imaging
reports.

Data can be entered directly and becomes a part of
the digital medical record.

Lab results can be automatically linked to the patient’s
medical record when uploaded to the diagnostic labs
Server.
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
The inbuilt database of literature helps physician make
evidence-based rather than opinion-based decision,
called Clinical Decision Support (CDS) system.

Prescriptions are made by selecting the medicines
from the dropdown list – avoids illegible handwriting,
a major source of medical errors, and then transmitted
directly to the patients’ pharmacies.

They are healthcare-related online applications that
allow patients to interact and communicate with their
healthcare providers.

Most portal applications are either integrated into the
websites of the healthcare providers or independent
modules linked to the providers’ websites.

A science that involves the use of minute or miniature
nanometer-sized devices (nanotechnologies) at the
level of molecules, slightly above the atomic size of
Angstrom.

Medical application of nanotechnologies: imaging the
internal organs whereby a small capsule containing
nanodevices, such as light source and a camera, is
ingested.

Nanodevices can also be used in microsurgeries of
eyes, blood vessels and in tissue regeneration where
they release growth chemicals to catalyze tissue
healing.

They also have a great potential in controlled release
of hormones, enzymes or therapeutic chemicals at the
selected sites.

Their other use could be placement in blood vessels to
monitor blood pressure and release of medication to
control blood pressure.

They can also be used to repair DNA or replace the
defective part of DNA using nanodevices that can carry
correct DNA chunk and place at the defective part.

Human genome contains 46 chromosomes, 23 from
each parent that house 20-22,000 genes. Each gene
pair is responsible for determining one trait.
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DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD ROMUALDEZ MEDICAL FOUNDATION, INC.
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Principles of Medical Laboratory Science 1

Each male sperm and female ovum contain 23
chromosomes and at the time of fertilization both
combine to form 46 chromosomes as zygote that
develops first into embryo and then into fetus.

The genome analysis of a person can identify the
defective codes that can lead to development of a
disease or disorder, called risk factors.

If genome of a person is known, vulnerability of that
person to diseases can be taken care of through
prevention and control of the environmental factors
that trigger that disease.

Tests are now routinely performed during prenatal
and postnatal to detect any genetic abnormality and
treat or manage it accordingly.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is part of the
Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

Twenty-four GPS satellites currently orbit Earth and
transmit signals to GPS receivers, which determine the
location, direction, and speed of the receiver.

Its main function is to track the location of the signal
transmitting unit and has been extensively used in
navigation of ships, airplanes and now automobiles.

GPS’s limited use in healthcare includes tracking the
location of the elderly, especially those suffering from
Alzheimer’s disease and those living alone.


(RFID)
A fast-developing technology that uses radio waves for
data collection and transfer. It can capture data
efficiently and automatically without human
intervention.
RFID tags attached to patients provide identification,
tracking, and security. It is also being used to track
patients for anti-elopement and anti-abduction.

The use of medical information exchanged from one
site to another via electronic communications to
improve a patient’s clinical health status.

It includes a growing variety of applications and
services using two-way video, email, smart phones,
wireless tools and other forms of telecommunications
technology.
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
Major benefits of Telemedicine include improved
access to healthcare, cost effectiveness, improved
quality and patient demand, especially in rural and
remote areas while its constraints are lack of
infrastructure and reimbursement from the thirdparty payers.

Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) are
computer-based programs that analyze data within
EHRs to provide prompts and reminders to assist
health care providers in implementing evidence-based
clinical guidelines at the point of care.

Its purpose is to assist healthcare providers, enabling
an analysis of patient data and using that information
to aid in formulating a diagnosis

Constraints to CDSS may include:
 Patient data accuracy – data must be entered
consistently and accurately for a CDS to contain
the latest information.
 CDS system accuracy – the CDS system needs to
be intelligent enough to be able to identify similar
cases and present to the user when requested.
 Alert fatigue – a CDS system must not produce too
many alerts otherwise user suffers from alert
fatigue and develops a tendency to ignore.
 Usability – CDS systems are often vendor-specific
and do not integrate well with other systems and
hence the user may choose not to use the CDS
when it starts becoming nuisance instead of aid.

Laboratory automation is the use of instrumentation
to perform laboratory processes, requiring minimal
human input.

Such technology can be used anywhere from a single
step of an experimental process, all the way through
to the entire workflow.

It can be split into the pre-analytic, analytical, or postanalytical stages:
a) Pre-analytic – includes choosing the test, placing
the request, preparing the patient, collecting the
specimen, transporting the specimen to the lab,
and daily quality controls.
b) Analytic – involves actual testing of the specimen
and all routine procedures up to result reporting.
c) Post-analytic – involves releasing and forwarding
the results and routine daily maintenance.
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DOÑA REMEDIOS TRINIDAD ROMUALDEZ MEDICAL FOUNDATION, INC.
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY
Principles of Medical Laboratory Science 1
Task and Career Opportunities
for Medical Technologists in the 2st Century
A BSMT/BMLS graduate can practice as a/an:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Medical Technologist/Clinical Laboratory
Scientist in a Hospital-based or Nonhospital-based Clinical Laboratory
Histotechnologist in an Anatomical
Laboratory
Researcher/Research Scientist
Member of the Academe (Faculty,
Clinical Instructor/Coordinator,
Dean/Department Head)
Perfusionist
Molecular Scientist
Diagnostic Product Specialist
Public Health Practitioner
Health Care Leader
A graduate may also practice in the following fields:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Molecular Biology
Public Health and Epidemiology
Veterinary Laboratory Science
Food and Industrial Microbiology
Veterinary Science
Forensic Science
Nuclear Medicine/Science
Health Facility Administration and
Management
Quality Management
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lic. no. 0094541
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