978-1285197159 Chapter 8 Explain that when people talk about standard of living

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Chapter 8

The Impact of Information Technology on

Productivity and Quality of Life

At a Glance

Instructor’s Manual Table of Contents

Overview

Objectives

Teaching Tips

Quick Quizzes

Discussion Questions

Additional Projects

Additional Resources

Key Terms

Lecture Notes

Overview

Chapter 8 discusses issues in leveling the playing field between societies that have access to

technology and societies that do not have access to technology. The chapter also discusses

initiatives to close the digital divide within communities in the United States, such as the E-Tech

program provision in No Child Left Behind. The second half of the chapter concerns the impact

of information technology on healthcare costs.

Objectives

As students read this chapter, they should consider the following questions:

What impact has IT had on the standard of living and worker productivity?

What is being done to reduce the negative influence of the digital divide?

What impact can IT have on improving productivity by reducing costs and/or improving

quality?

What ethical issues are raised because some entities can afford to make significant

investments in IT while others cannot and thus are blocked in their efforts to raise

productivity and quality?

Teaching Tips

Vignette—Problems with the E-Rate Program

1. Discuss how Democratic Senator John D. Rockefeller IV called for an expansion of

I. The Impact of IT on the Standard of Living and Worker Productivity

1. Begin the discussion by explaining that standard of living varies greatly among groups

within a country as well as from nation to nation. The most widely used measurement of

the material standard of living is gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. National GDP

Teaching

Tip

Take the time to explain that major disasters—such as hurricanes, tsunamis, and

wars—can negatively impact the standard of living.

A. IT Investment and Productivity

1. Introduce the term productivity. Use examples to aid the discussion.

2. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks U.S. productivity on a quarterly basis. In the

United States, labor productivity growth has averaged about 2 percent per year for the

past century, meaning that living standards have doubled about every 36 years. Use

Figure 8-1 to aid the discussion.

3. Point out that innovation is a key factor in productivity improvement, and IT has played

an important role in enabling innovation. Progressive management teams use IT, as well

as other new technology and capital investment, to implement innovations in products,

Teaching

Tip

Point out the difficulty in quantifying how much IT has contributed to worker

productivity.

Telework

1. Telework (also known as telecommuting) is a work arrangement in which an

employee works away from the office—at home, at a client’s office, in a hotel—

B. The Digital Divide

1. Explain that when people talk about standard of living, they are often referring to a level

of material comfort measured by the goods, services, and luxuries available to a person,

group, or nation.

2. Introduce the term digital divide. Use Table 8-4 to aid the discussion.

3. Note that the digital divide exists from country to country and even within countries—

among age groups, economic classes, and people who live in cities versus those in rural

areas.

E-Rate Program

1. Students should be aware of the Education Rate (E-Rate) program, which was

created through the Telecommunications Act of 1996. E-Rate helps schools and

libraries obtain broadband Internet services to advance the availability of educational

and informational resources.

providers to make sure that the discounts are passed along to program participants.

Low-Cost Computers

1. It is estimated that nearly 2.4 billion people worldwide have Internet access as of June

2012. Note that although that number is impressive, it still leaves nearly 5 billion

people (72% of the world’s population) unconnected.

2. Explain that the nonprofit organization One Laptop per Child (OLPC) has a goal of

providing children around the world with low-cost laptop computers to aid in their

education.

3. Introduce the XO-4 (see Figure 8-2), which was designed to require just 1 watt of

electricity per hour and sell for $206, with a minimum purchase of 10,000 units. Note

that the OLPC XO-4 comes with up to an 8 GB hard drive and 1.2 GHz processor.

4. In 2006, Intel introduced a low-cost laptop called the Classmate PC. Explain that the

first generation of this notebook computer cost under $400 and was designed for use in

kindergarten through high school classrooms in developing countries. Intel does not

actually build the machine but instead provides the basic design used by various

manufacturers around the world.

5. The Raspberry Pi is a small (about the size of a credit card), inexpensive ($25–$35)

computer developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a United Kingdom charity. This

stripped-down computer comes with either 256 MB or 512 MB of RAM, a 700 MHz

processor, one or two USB ports, and an Ethernet port—but no case and no monitor.

Although the price of the Pi certainly makes it attractive, it is not clear that this device

has the necessary ruggedness, portability, and functionality to meet the educational

computing needs of schoolchildren.

Mobile Phone: The Tool to Bridge the Digital Divide?

1. Some industry observers identify the increasing use of cell phones as an important first

Quick Quiz 1

1. ____ is defined as the amount of output produced per unit of input, and it is measured in

many different ways.

2. ____ is a work arrangement in which an employee works away from the office—at home, at

a client’s office, in a hotel—literally, anywhere.

3. National ____ represents the total annual output of a nation’s economy.

4. The ____ is a term used to describe the gulf between those who do and those who don’t have

access to modern information and communications technology, such as cell phones,

smartphones, personal computers, and the Internet.

II. The Impact of IT on Healthcare Costs

1. Explain that the rapidly rising cost of health care is one of the twenty-first century’s major

challenges. U.S. healthcare spending hit an estimated $2.7 trillion in 2011 and is expected

to increase an average of 6.3 percent per year (a rate much higher than overall inflation)

between 2015 and 2021, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

2. Point out that the development and use of new medical technology, such as new diagnostic

procedures and treatments, account for much of the increase in healthcare spending per

person in excess of general inflation.

3. Students should be aware that in order to really gain control over soaring healthcare costs,

patient awareness must be raised and technology costs must be managed more carefully.

A. Electronic Health Records

1. Point out that although the healthcare industry depends on highly sophisticated

technology for diagnostics and treatment, it was slow to implement IT solutions to

improve productivity and efficiency. However, the healthcare industry has now greatly

B. Use of Mobile and Wireless Technology in the Healthcare Industry

1. Note that the healthcare industry was actually a leader in adopting mobile and wireless

technology, perhaps because of the frequent urgency of communications with doctors

and nurses, who are almost always on the move.

2. Discuss the common use of mobile and wireless technology in the healthcare industry.

C. Telehealth

1. Telehealth employs electronic information processing and telecommunications to

support at-a-distance health care, provide professional and patient health-related

training, and support healthcare administration.

2. Introduce the concept of telemedicine explaining that it is the component of telehealth

that provides medical care to people at a location different from the healthcare

providers.

Teaching

Tip Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each form of telemedicine.

D. Medical Information Web Sites for Laypeople

1. Healthy people as well as those who suffer from illness need reliable information on a

wide range of medical topics to learn more about healthcare services and to take more

responsibility for their health. Clearly, laypeople cannot become as informed as trained

medical practitioners, but a tremendous amount of healthcare information is available

Quick Quiz 2

1. A(n) ____ is a summary of health information generated by each patient encounter in any

healthcare delivery setting.

2. ____ employs modern telecommunications and information technologies to provide medical

care to people who live far away from healthcare providers.

3. ____ requires the presence of patients and healthcare providers at different sites at the same

time and often involves a video conference link between the two sites.

4. ____ involves acquiring data, sound, images, and video from a patient and then transmitting

everything to a medical specialist for later evaluation.

Discussion Questions

1. For the average worker, does higher productivity result in higher wages? Clearly, higher

wages means a higher standard of living. Is there a relationship between GDP and the

average earnings of workers?

2. In what way does technology provide a way out of poverty for the poorest nations?

3. What are the disadvantages of telemedicine?

4. Discuss the legal and ethical issues associated with the use of telemedicine.

Additional Projects

1. Write an essay outlining the pros and cons of providing cheap laptops to students in

underperforming, poor school districts.

2. Write a paper comparing the benefits of telemedicine to the benefits of seeing patients in

person, considering factors such as cost, the physical health of the patient, the emotional

well-being of the patient, and the type of patients most likely to benefit from such a system.

Additional Resources

1. A number of publications from the NITRD, such as reports to the President on

Revolutionizing Healthcare Through Information Technology:

Key Terms

Digital divide—the gulf between those who do and those who don’t have access to

modern information and communications technology, such as cell phones, smartphones,

personal computers, and the Internet.

Education Rate (E-Rate) program—a program created through the Telecommunications

Act of 1996 to help schools and libraries obtain broadband Internet services to advance the

availability of educational and informational resources.

Electronic health record (EHR)—a computer-readable record of health-related

information on an individual.

Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act)

—an act passed as part of the $787 billion 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

One Laptop per Child (OLPC)—a nonprofit organization whose goal is to provide

children around the world with low-cost laptop computers to aid in their education.

Productivity—the amount of output produced per unit of input, and it is measured in many

different ways.

Remote monitoring—(also called home monitoring) involves the regular, ongoing

measurement of an individual’s vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and

breathing rate) and other health measures (e.g., glucose levels for a diabetic) and the

transmission of this data to a healthcare provider.

Store-and-forward telemedicine—involves acquiring data, sound, images, and video

from a patient and then transmitting everything to a medical specialist for later evaluation.