T. Walker NR512 HealthIT Topic Assignment
NR512 HealthIT Topic Assignment
NR 512 Week 5 Assignment: HealthIT Hot Topic –
... [Show More] Physician Telehealth Adoption Surged Since 2015
Chamberlain University College of Nursing
NR512 Fundamentals of Nursing Informatics
Introduction
Technology is booming in healthcare and is developing and modernizing patient care very rapidly through electronic health records and online communication. This paper will select an appropriate healthcare technology topic from FierceHealthIT, present substantial opinions on topic and its impact practice in an optimistic or adverse manner by providing both pros and cons, confer how informatics knowledge and skills are used in the course relevant to the development of topic. Finally, conclude with key elements gained during the assignment with recommendations for future.
Relevant HealthIT Topic
The pertinent HealthIT topic I have chosen to discuss is “physician telehealth adoption surged since 2015, by Heather Landi” (FierceHealthIT, 2019). There is approximately 1 of every 5 physicians presently using telehealth to take care of patients and it has increased 5% since 2015 with soaring figures expected in a short few years (Landi, 2019). Telehealth is a tool that provides communication between primary care providers and patients via television. In the HealthIT.gov article “the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines telehealth as the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support and promote long-distance clinical health care” (HealthIT.gov, 2019, p 1). The purpose of telehealth was to assist the non-communicable diseases (NCDs); such as, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure (HF), and hypertension (HTN) within patient’s homes.
These patients require continuous care that is long term and the multifaceted care requirements suggests six mandatory essentials for the long-term care: (1) organization; (2) distribution system; (3) decision support; (4) clinical data systems; (5) self-management support; and (6) policies and resources (Uei, Kuo, Tsai, & Kuo, 2017). Some forms of NCD medical services are: telephones, mobile phones, emails, instant messages, and online video calls that are used for the distribution of services and/or communication among medical professionals (Uei, et al., 2017). The most prevalent applied telecare is the home tele-monitoring which involves connection of self-monitoring devices for patients at home who have NCDs. Thus, allowing the medical team to monitor the patients’ physical, emotional, and/or behavioral indicators and then communicating the patient’s information to isolated monitoring centers. This information allows healthcare professionals to evaluate patient well-being standings and enables for rapid medical responses (Uei, et al., 2017).
I have chosen this topic because I believe it is very relevant to my future profession. As an advance nurse practitioner, I will be seeing many patients each day, many of whom will present with non-communicable diseases. It is important to catch these diagnoses, be self-aware and realize that some patients can be further helped in the prevention of re-current admissions to the hospital through telehealth home monitoring. The intent to use telehealth (IUT) resulted high with encouraging perception from the patients of the telecare services. This new telehealth service is intended to progress the healthcare self-management and preventive care for those living in the comfort of their own home who have NCD (Uei, et al., 2017).
Impact of Topic in Practice
There are some potential positive and negative outcomes of telehealth. On the positive side, telehealth improves patient access, cost effectiveness, provides more patient engagement and improve patient outcomes. For advance nurse practitioners who are in contact with patients in various sites, telehealth can aid an improved delivery of healthcare to underserved populations (Balestra, 2018). On the negative side of things, there are challenges that include a wide range of differences in the rules, protocols, and practice plans that encompass telehealth. The nurse practitioner should implement practical advice and instructions for applying telehealth, as well as risk management policies to safeguard well patient care and avoid malpractice lawsuits or accrediting issues. Other drawbacks include the limitation of physical examinations, a potential for practical problems and safety breaches, monitoring and industrial barriers. However, most professional believe that the pros of telehealth outweigh the cons and 52% of hospitals are embracing the trend and utilizing telehealth (Balestra, 2018).
Use of Informatics Skills
Once endeavoring to find this relevant healthcare topic and the sources to support it, I used several nursing informatics skills. According to my TANIC assessment, I mostly focused on skills in the information literacy category as well as basic computer. For this assignment, I activated the hyperlink provided in the week five reading section. Afterwards, I was able to access information by technology through multiple search engines, specifically the chamberlain library search engine. Performing this search effectively by utilizing specific key words that lead me to applicable articles. Then chose articles that best suited my topic and reiterate the main ideas from those sources into my own words. Each step in this process was performed with great ability because of the gained knowledge of nursing informatics learned thus far.
Conclusion
In conclusion and summarizing, it is obvious that nursing informatics plays a vital role in today’s healthcare. As indicated by Landi (2017) in the recent article, “by 2022 more than half of physicians (61%) who are not currently using telehealth indicated they are either very likely to start using telehealth representing a half million doctors and a survey polled that to be 800 physicians” (p 1). The professionals that are utilizing telehealth currently uses it two times a week or more and this is estimated to grow 50% by 2022. The current healthcare informatic technology assisted with performing simple tasks in researching and discovering further information pertaining to telehealth and the pros and cons on this advancing knowledge. Telehealth is serving practitioners and advancing the healthcare settings, increasing work productivity, cost efficiency, patient engagement and improving quality care. But also, bringing attention and awareness to practitioners on remaining mindful of regulations, safety breaches and to monitor patients closely. As a future advance nurse practitioner, I am excited and look forward to working and utilizing telehealth yet remain cautious as well.
References
Balestra, M. (2018). Telehealth and Legal Implications for Nurse Practitioners. The Journal for
Nurse Practitioners, 14(1), 33-39. Retrieved from
https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2017.10.003
FierceHealthIT. (2019). Healthcare topic: Physician telehealth adoption surged since 2015.
Retrieved from https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech?page=0%2C6
HealthIT.gov (2017). Telemedicine and Telehealth. Retrieved from
https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-initiatives/telemedicine-and-telehealth
Landi, H., (2019). FierceHealthIT: Physician telehealth adoption surged since 2015.
1 in 5 physicians use telehealth. Burnout may drive more adoption, survey says. Retrieved
From https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/22-physicians-use-telehealth-and-
burnout-may-drive-more-adoption-survey
Uei, S.-L., Kuo, Y.-M., Tsai, C.-H., & Kuo, Y.-L. (2017). An exploration of Intent to Use Telehealth
At Home for Patients with Chronic Diseases. International Journal of Environmental
Research and Public Health, 14(12). Retrieved from
https://doi-org.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org/10.3390/ijerph14121544 [Show Less]