IT has brought about major improvements in healthcare delivery. Medical personnel use IT
to make better and faster diagnoses and to monitor critically ill patients more accurately. IT
also has streamlined the process of researching and developing new drugs. Expert systems now
help doctors diagnose diseases, and machine vision is enhancing the work of radiologists. Surgeons
use virtual reality to plan complex surgeries. They also employ surgical robots to perform
long-distance surgery. Finally, doctors discuss complex medical cases via videoconferencing.
New computer simulations recreate the sense of touch, allowing doctors-in-training to perform
virtual procedures without risking harm to an actual patient.