Care Coordination, Technology Use and Community Resources
Healthcare technologies, care coordination and utilization of community resources are some of the ways in which optimum health outcomes of patients can be achieved. Nurses have the responsibility of ensuring that the most efficient and effective technologies are incorporated into their care plans. Healthcare technologies enable the provision of high quality and efficient care to the patients. Nurses should explore the available community resources that can be used to provide care that addresses the current and potential needs of their clients. Therefore, this section of the research paper explores the ways in which technology, care coordination and community resources can be used to meet the health needs of the patient in the case study.
Impact of Technology on Patient Population Problem
Healthcare technologies can be used in the management of hypertension and pre-diabetes. Technologies in health provide healthcare providers the opportunities to explore the ways in which optimum outcomes in care can be achieved. Healthcare technologies also enable the provision of cost-effective, efficient, timely and continuous care to the patient in the case study. Healthcare technologies such as telehealth enable patient-centered care since healthcare providers can interact with their patients irrespective of their locations. The use of the technology also promotes cost-efficiency in care, as it minimizes the travelling costs by the patients. Telehealth technologies such as m-health technologies can also be used to promote lifestyle and behavioral modification by the patients. Patients receive health education messages that underpin the interventions that are utilized in the management of their health problems. Mobile applications are also effective in the management of hypertension and pre-diabetes. For example, the application can be used for self-monitoring of blood pressure, hence, the minimization of adverse events in the management of the condition (Aziz et al., 2020). The use of the above technologies in the management of hypertension and pre-diabetes is consistent with my experiences in nursing practice. The organization I work with uses telemedicine for chronic disease management. Therefore, its practices align with evidence-based practice information.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Specific Technologies
The technologies used in the management of hypertension and pre-diabetes are associated with a number of advantages as well as disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the technologies promote cost-efficiency in care. The use of healthcare technologies such as telemedicine reduces the costs that the patient and health organization could have incurred. For example, the cost incurred in travelling to seek healthcare assistance is eliminated. The resource utilization due to unnecessary hospital visits is als
o reduced, hence, cost efficiency. Healthcare technologies such as telehealth for hypertension and diabetes promote patient satisfaction with care. Patients are assured timely and patient-centered care even following their discharge from the hospital (Appuswamy & Desimone, 2020). As a result, optimum outcomes of care such as safety, quality, efficiency, and medication adherence are achieved.
Healthcare technologies used in hypertension and diabetes management are however associated with a number of disadvantages. The risk of loss of data integrity is high with the use of healthcare technologies. The technologies are prone to cyberattacks, that can expose the vital information of the patients. Technologies such as telehealth also require literate patients. Illiterate patients might not benefit from the technology. The technologies also eliminate the aspect of patient-provider interaction. Physical interaction between the patient and provider may elicit additional information related to the care needs of the patients that cannot be identified through the technology (Omboni et al., 2019). Therefore, the technologies may affect the therapeutic relationships between the patients and healthcare providers.
Barriers and Costs Associated with Specific Technologies
The use of specific technologies in hypertension and pre-diabetes management is associated with a number of barriers. One of the barriers is the cost implications for the health organizations. Health organizations have to train their healthcare providers on the use of the technology in providing patient care. Health organizations also incur significant costs in the acquisition of technologies such as telehealth for use. Healthcare providers should also be compensated for providing care to the patients remotely using the technologies. Consequently, cost of the technology may become a barrier in health organizational setting (Wu et al., 2018). The other barrier to the use of specific technologies for hypertension and prediabetes management such as telehealth is workload. Often, most organizations experience the issue of shortage of staffs. The shortage of staffs implies that the existing resources are constrained with healthcare providers suffering from high workload and burnout. High workload therefore limits the involvement of the healthcare providers in the provision of care to patients through technologies such as telehealth. The last barrier to the use of the specific health technologies is the risk of violation of the rights of the patients to confidentiality and privacy. Health organizations may be held liable for loss of data integrity with the technologies used in the provision of care to hypertensive and diabetic patients (Kitt et al., 2020). The implication is that health organizations do not consider technology use a priority due to the little benefits that they acquire from their use in disease management.
Care Coordination
Care coordination and community resources can also be utilized to provide high quality, safe and patient centered care to the patient in the case study. Care coordination in health entails the deliberate provision of care needs of a patient by two or more healthcare providers to promote quality and efficiency in health. Care coordination incorporates the perspectives from different healthcare providers in patient assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the treatment outcomes. The healthcare providers and patient collaborate to develop shared expectations about the aims of the selected treatments alongside their roles in the care process (Omboni, 2019). Care coordination in hypertension and pre-diabetes management incorporates insights from healthcare providers such as nutritionists, physicians, diabetologist, and nurses in the disease management process. Through it, optimum outcomes of care are achieved. Community resources can also be mobilized for use in facilitating the realization of the desired outcomes in hypertension and pre-diabetes management. The patient needs to be involved in the exploration of the available community resources such as social support groups and support programs that can be used to improve treatment outcomes (Duan-Porter, 2020). Optimum use of community resources such as social support groups and programs for patients with chronic illnesses will result in the realization of outcomes of care such as patient satisfaction, high quality and safety in patient care.
Benefits of Care Coordination
Care coordination is associated with a number of benefits to the patient with hypertension and pre-diabetes. Care coordination promotes the provision of patient-centered care to the patient. Patients receive timely and continuous care from the caregivers even following their discharge from the hospital. The continuity in care strengthens the adoption of the desired lifestyle and behavioral interventions, hence, minimization in hospital visits and hospital readmission. The additional patient outcomes in care include patient satisfaction, improved treatment adherence, and patient empowerment for the effective management of the health problems. Care coordination also promotes resource efficiency. Resource efficiency is achieved through the reduction in the number and frequency of hospital visits alongside hospitalization. There is also the reduced utilization of healthcare resources due to minimization of the unnecessary hospital visits. Therefore, the incorporation of care coordination into hypertension and pre-diabetes management will contribute to the provision of high quality, safe, efficient, and patient-centered care. The organization I work with embraces interventions that are consistent with care coordination. Patients are provided close, inter-professional follow-up care following their discharge from the hospital. Inter-professional teams follow-up the patients to determine treatment adherence and response by the patients (Duan-Porter, 2020). Through it, the hospital utilizes interventions that are consistent with the principles of care coordination.
Barriers to Care Coordination and Community Resources
A number of barriers may be experienced in utilizing community resources and care coordination to meet the care needs of patients with hypertension and pre-diabetes. One of the barriers is the inadequacy of the community resources. Community resources such as financial support for health promotion programs and adequate social support are needed for the optimum management of hypertension and pre-diabetes. Inadequacy may affect the treatment outcomes. The other barrier is the high workload for the healthcare providers involved in care coordination. High workload limits their active involvement in care coordination and mobilization of community resources, hence, negative outcomes. The other barrier is poor inter-professional relationship between the health care providers involved in the care process. Poor relationship or the use of ineffective teamwork skills and strategies may not yield the desired outcomes of treatment for the patients (Duan-Porter, 2020). Therefore, the professionals involved in care coordination and utilization of community resources should develop responsive strategies to address the above barriers.
State Board Nursing Practice Standards
State board nursing practice standards influence the use of health care technology, care coordination and use of community resources in the management of hypertension and pre-diabetes. Accordingly, nurses are expected to demonstrate safe and effective use of healthcare technologies in case management. Nurse should abide with the professional standard of ensuring data integrity in the technologies selected for the provision of care to patients. The technologies should also promote evidence-based care that is safe, high quality, and efficient for the patient and the health organization. Organizational policies also influence the use of the technologies in providing care to patients with hypertension and pre-diabetes. Nurses and other healthcare providers are expected to demonstrate competencies in safeguarding the privacy and confidentiality of the patient data. The state board of nursing practice standards also identifies the need for the use of strategies such as teamwork and active stakeholder collaboration in care coordination and use of community resources (Allard, 2020).
Influence of Standards and Policies in my Actions
The state board nursing practice standards and organizational policy will influence my use of healthcare technologies, care coordination and community resources in a number of ways. Firstly, I will embrace the professional standard of promoting privacy and confidentiality in the use of healthcare technologies to manage hypertension and pre-diabetes. I will ensure that the technologies embraced for the provision of patient care are safe, effective and not vulnerable to cyber-attacks that will threaten safety of the patient data. I will also abide by the institutional policies on the use of health technologies in nursing. I will promote the meaningful use of patient data for making health-related decisions (Butts & Rich, 2020). I will also strengthen stakeholder participation in care coordination and utilization of community resources.
Effects of Local, State and Federal Policies
The local, state and federal policies will affect my nursing scope of practice within the context of technology, care coordination and community resources. I will provide care-using technologies that are within the scope of my practice. I will also ensure that the standards and regulations that guide technology use in health such as protection of data privacy and confidentiality are safeguarded. I will play the roles of health educator, nursing assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation as stated in the state, federal and local policies. I will also promote equity in access to and utilization of healthcare resources in addressing the needs of the patient in the case study (Ellis, 2017).
Nursing Ethics
Nursing ethics will inform my approach to addressing the patient’s problem of hypertension with applied technology, care coordination and community resources. I will strive to promote the ethical principle of non-maleficence and benevolence by ensuring that the technologies selected, care coordination and community resources do not predispose the patient to harm (Butts & Rich, 2020). I will also uphold the principles of privacy and confidentiality by ensuring that safe technologies are used in the care process. I will also demonstrate nursing ethics by ensuring active stakeholder involvement in care coordination and utilization of community resources. I will promote patient autonomy by involving him in decision-making and seeking informed consent prior to implementing a treatment plan (Ellis, 2017).
Part 2
The patient that I met for the project is a family member who is hypertensive and pre-diabetic. I learned from the patient the importance of healthcare technologies in self-management of hypertension. I also learned that the patient utilizes the available resources in the community to optimize the outcomes of treatment. I reviewed websites that included the American Diabetes Association, American Cardiology Association, World Health Organization and Center for Disease Control and Prevention to obtain evidence-based data for hypertension and diabetes management. The interaction with the patient showed that the health problems had affected him adversely. Therefore, interventions that promote behavioral and lifestyle modification should be embraced to improve the patient’s outcomes of treatment. I was surprised that the patient was well informed about the different technologies used in hypertension and pre-diabetes management. Consequently, I will explore an effective technology that we can use to improve his treatment outcomes.
Conclusion
Overall, health technologies, care coordination and community resources enable optimum management of hypertension and pre-diabetes. Healthcare technologies, care coordination and community resources have advantages and disadvantages that nurses should explore in practice. Nurses should explore the effect of their professional standards, organizational and government policies and legislations on the use of technology, care coordination and community resources in improving the outcomes of treatment. Most importantly, they should adhere to their ethics of practice to ensure safe, efficient and quality care being given to their patients.
References
Allard, B. L. (2020). INSPIREd Healthcare: A Value-Based Care Coordination Model. Sigma Theta Tau.
Appuswamy, A. V., & Desimone, M. E. (2020). Managing Diabetes in Hard to Reach Populations: A Review of Telehealth Interventions. Current Diabetes Reports, 20(7), 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11892-020-01310-2
Aziz, A., Zork, N., Aubey, J. J., Baptiste, C. D., D’Alton, M. E., Emeruwa, U. N., Fuchs, K. M., Goffman, D., Gyamfi-Bannerman, C., Haythe, J. H., LaSala, A. P., Madden, N., Miller, E. C., Miller, R. S., Monk, C., Moroz, L., Ona, S., Ring, L. E., Sheen, J.-J., … Friedman, A. M. (2020). Telehealth for High-Risk Pregnancies in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic. American Journal of Perinatology, 37(8), 800–808. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1712121
Butts, J. B., & Rich, K. L. (2020). Nursing Ethics: Across the Curriculum and Into Practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Duan-Porter, W. (2020). Care Coordination Models and Tools: A Systematic Review and Key Informant Interviews. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research & Development Service.
Ellis, P. (2017). Understanding Ethics for Nursing Students. Learning Matters.
Kitt, J., Fox, R., & Tucker, K. (2020). Digital Health: New Approaches in Hypertension Management. Journal of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Sciences, 4, 18–23. https://doi.org/10.29245/2578-3025/2020/1.1186
Omboni, S. (2019). Connected Health in Hypertension Management. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2019.00076
Omboni, S., Tenti, M., & Coronetti, C. (2019). Physician–pharmacist collaborative practice and telehealth may transform hypertension management. Journal of Human Hypertension, 33(3), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41371-018-0147-x
Wu, C., Wu, Z., Yang, L., Zhu, W., Zhang, M., Zhu, Q., Chen, X., & Pan, Y. (2018). Evaluation of the clinical outcomes of telehealth for managing diabetes. Medicine, 97(43). https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000012962
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