NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
Walden University NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies– Step-By-Step Guide
This guide will demonstrate how to complete the Walden University NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies assignment based on general principles of academic writing. Here, we will show you the A, B, Cs of completing an academic paper, irrespective of the instructions. After guiding you through what to do, the guide will leave one or two sample essays at the end to highlight the various sections discussed below.
How to Research and Prepare for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
Whether one passes or fails an academic assignment such as the Walden University NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies depends on the preparation done beforehand. The first thing to do once you receive an assignment is to quickly skim through the requirements. Once that is done, start going through the instructions one by one to clearly understand what the instructor wants. The most important thing here is to understand the required format—whether it is APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.
After understanding the requirements of the paper, the next phase is to gather relevant materials. The first place to start the research process is the weekly resources. Go through the resources provided in the instructions to determine which ones fit the assignment. After reviewing the provided resources, use the university library to search for additional resources. After gathering sufficient and necessary resources, you are now ready to start drafting your paper.
How to Write the Introduction for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
The introduction for the Walden University NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies is where you tell the instructor what your paper will encompass. In three to four statements, highlight the important points that will form the basis of your paper. Here, you can include statistics to show the importance of the topic you will be discussing. At the end of the introduction, write a clear purpose statement outlining what exactly will be contained in the paper. This statement will start with “The purpose of this paper…” and then proceed to outline the various sections of the instructions.
How to Write the Body for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
After the introduction, move into the main part of the NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies assignment, which is the body. Given that the paper you will be writing is not experimental, the way you organize the headings and subheadings of your paper is critically important. In some cases, you might have to use more subheadings to properly organize the assignment. The organization will depend on the rubric provided. Carefully examine the rubric, as it will contain all the detailed requirements of the assignment. Sometimes, the rubric will have information that the normal instructions lack.
Another important factor to consider at this point is how to do citations. In-text citations are fundamental as they support the arguments and points you make in the paper. At this point, the resources gathered at the beginning will come in handy. Integrating the ideas of the authors with your own will ensure that you produce a comprehensive paper. Also, follow the given citation format. In most cases, APA 7 is the preferred format for nursing assignments.
How to Write the Conclusion for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
After completing the main sections, write the conclusion of your paper. The conclusion is a summary of the main points you made in your paper. However, you need to rewrite the points and not simply copy and paste them. By restating the points from each subheading, you will provide a nuanced overview of the assignment to the reader.
How to Format the References List for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
The very last part of your paper involves listing the sources used in your paper. These sources should be listed in alphabetical order and double-spaced. Additionally, use a hanging indent for each source that appears in this list. Lastly, only the sources cited within the body of the paper should appear here.
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Sample Answer for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
Health information technologies have significantly transformed the provision of nursing and health care in the modern world. Healthcare organizations continually explore technologies that will enable them to achieve outcomes in care such as quality, efficiency, and safety. The selection of healthcare technologies should always take into consideration their sustainability, relevance, and influence on the organizational needs. Evidence-based data can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the technologies prior to their adoption for use in healthcare. Therefore, this research paper explores a proposal of health information technology that should be adopted in the organization to achieve safety, efficiency, and quality in patient care.
Proposed Project
The proposed project for adoption in the organization is the use of telehealth technology in the management of chronic diseases. Telehealth is a technology that entails the delivery of healthcare services as well as health education using remote technologies or digital communication technologies. Telehealth allows healthcare providers and patients to interact remotely for the effective management of their health problems (Olson et al., 2018). It includes the incorporation of technologies such as electronic transmission of information, live video conferencing, short messaging services, mhealth, and remote patient monitoring among others (Lurie & Carr, 2018). Telehealth technologies have been shown to be highly effective in the management of chronic illnesses.
Existing evidence shows that Telehealth can be used for the management of health problems that include asthma, obesity, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes. The technology enables healthcare providers to provide remote patient assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of treatment plans (Omboni et al., 2021; Parker et al., 2018). For example, activities such as medication reconciliation, scheduling hospital visits and appointment, medication refills, and patient education can be undertaken easily using telehealth. In addition, interdisciplinary care involving different healthcare professionals can be provided remotely with telehealth (Snoswell et al., 2021). Therefore, the enhanced use of telehealth technologies contribute to care outcomes such as increased safety, efficiency, quality, and cost-effectiveness of care to address the barriers to care in chronic disease management.
Stakeholders Impacted
The proposed project of introducing the use of telehealth for chronic disease management will affect a number of stakeholders. One of them is the healthcare providers. Healthcare providers will have to incorporate telehealth technology into their routine patient care. They will have to engage in remote management of their patients suffering from chronic illnesses (Baum et al., 2021). They will also have to allocate time to providing coordinated care remotely to the patients. Nurses will also have to play the role of care coordinators. They have to ensure efficiency in patient care is achieved through well-coordinated activities involving healthcare providers from different specialties. Healthcare providers will also have to be competent on the use of health information technologies in patient care (Baum et al., 2021). They will have to be trained on the use of telehealth to optimize on its outcomes such as safety, quality and efficiency in patient care.
The proposed project will also affect patients with chronic illnesses. Patients will receive continuous care remotely for their chronic conditions. They will have to play a proactive role in the self-management of their health problems. They will also have to demonstrate competence in the use of health information technologies to enhance their health outcomes (Su et al., 2020). The senior management of the organization will also be affected. Accordingly, they will have to implement mechanisms that eliminate the possibility of increased workload for the healthcare providers involved in the provision of remote care through telehealth (Su et al., 2020). They will also have to come up with remuneration package for the involved healthcare providers. Information technology personnel in the organization will also be impacted. Accordingly, they will have to ensure the effective management and optimum functioning of the telehealth system. They will have to provide the healthcare givers the support that they need in ensuring the effective utilization of telehealth for chronic disease management.
Patient Outcomes
The use of telehealth for chronic disease management will lead to the realization of a number of patient outcomes. One of the patient outcomes is patient satisfaction with care. Telehealth will ensure that patients receive continuous care even following their discharge from the hospital. The remote care given to them will aim at ensuring that the desired outcomes of treatment are achieved. As a result, patient satisfaction with the management of their chronic diseases will be achieved (Omboni et al., 2020). The other patient outcome related with the use of telehealth for chronic disease management is patient-centeredness in the care process. Accordingly, healthcare providers involved in the provision of remote care will have to developed care plans tailored to meet the individual needs of the patients. The individualized care plans will ensure the realization of optimum outcomes of care for the patients (Head et al., 2017). The provision of patient-centered care will also enhance the level of the overall satisfaction of the patients with the treatment.
The other patient outcome that will be realized from the proposed project is patient empowerment. Accordingly, telehealth ensures that patients develop the desired knowledge and skills for self-management of their health problems. For example, patients with conditions such as diabetes are assisted in ensuring close monitoring of their blood glucose levels and medication administration. They are also assisted in developing personalized self-care management plans involving the use of interventions such as dietary modification and engagement in active physical activity. The benefit of the personalized interventions is that patients are empowered to play a proactive role in meeting their health-related needs (Omboni et al., 2020). Patients also take responsibility for their health.
The proposed project also reduces the costs that patients with chronic conditions incur in the care process. Accordingly, the use of Telehealth has been shown to be associated with the cost-reduction benefit due to the elimination of unnecessary hospital visits and hospitalizations. The reduction in unnecessary hospital visits is attributable to most of the patient concerns being addressed by the healthcare providers remotely. The active self-management of the chronic conditions also minimizes the need for hospital visits due to elimination of adverse events and complications. The empowerment of patients increases their ability to recognize the early signs and symptoms of complications, lowering the need for hospitalizations(Tsou et al., 2020). The reduction in costs of healthcare incurred by patients leads to their improved experiences with their health problems.
Technologies Required
The successful implementation of the project will require the adoption of a number of technologies. One of the technologies is telehealth itself. Telehealth will be used for delivering the wide range of healthcare services such as patient education, remote monitoring, and patient assessment. The other technology that is needed is imaging technology. Imaging technology will be used to assess patients remotely and relay information to other healthcare providers. There must also be broadband internet thatwill enable the remote collaboration and transmission of data (Carroll, 2018). There will also be a need for videoconferencing technology that will be used for coordinating interdisciplinary care.
Project Teams
A project team comprising of nurses, physicians, information technology experts, and human resource manager is needed for the successful implementation of the project. Nurses and physicians will ensure that the adopted telehealth system addresses their actual and potential needs. Since they are the direct users of the system, their needs should be incorporated into system design and implementation process. Nurses and physicians will provide routine management of patients remotely, hence, the need for their incorporation in the process. Information technology experts will also be needed for the successful implementation of the project. They will be tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the system and ensuring the healthcare providers utilize the system effectively to achieve the desired organizational and patient outcomes. They will also provide the support needed by system users in the project. Human resources manager will be responsible for determining the training needs of the users of the system and effective remuneration for their services.
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Conclusion
The proposed project entails the use of telehealth technology for chronic disease management. Telehealth technology enhances the realization of care outcomes such as patient satisfaction, cost efficiency, and safety of patient care. The successful implementation of the project will require inputs from different stakeholders in the organization. They will include nurses, physicians, human resources manager, and information technology experts. It is anticipated that the project will enhance patient-centered outcomes in chronic disease management. Therefore, interventions aiming at ensuring the realization of optimum outcomes in the project will be explored.
References
Baum, A., Kaboli, P. J., & Schwartz, M. D. (2021). Reduced In-Person and Increased Telehealth Outpatient Visits During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Annals of Internal Medicine, 174(1), 129–131. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-3026
Carroll, K. (2018). Transforming the Art of Nursing: Telehealth Technologies.Nursing Science Quarterly, 31(3), 230–232. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318418774930
Head, B. A., Schapmire, T. J., &Zheng, Y. (2017).Telehealth in Palliative Care: A Systematic Review of Patient-Reported Outcomes.Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing, 19(2), 130–139. https://doi.org/10.1097/NJH.0000000000000319
Lurie, N., & Carr, B. G. (2018).The Role of Telehealth in the Medical Response to Disasters.JAMA Internal Medicine, 178(6), 745–746. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2018.1314
Olson, C. A., McSwain, S. D., Curfman, A. L., & Chuo, J. (2018).The Current Pediatric Telehealth Landscape.Pediatrics, 141(3), e20172334. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-2334
Omboni, S., Ballatore, T., Rizzi, F., Tomassini, F., Panzeri, E., &Campolo, L. (2021).Telehealth at scale can improve chronic disease management in the community during a pandemic: An experience at the time of COVID-19. PLOS ONE, 16(9), e0258015. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0258015
Omboni, S., Campolo, L., &Panzeri, E. (2020).Telehealth in chronic disease management and the role of the Internet-of-Medical-Things: The Tholomeus® experience. Expert Review of Medical Devices, 17(7), 659–670. https://doi.org/10.1080/17434440.2020.1782734
Parker, S., Prince, A., Thomas, L., Song, H., Milosevic, D., & Harris, M. F. (2018).Electronic, mobile and telehealth tools for vulnerable patients with chronic disease: A systematic review and realist synthesis.BMJ Open, 8(8), e019192. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019192
Snoswell, C. L., Chelberg, G., De Guzman, K. R., Haydon, H. H., Thomas, E. E., Caffery, L. J., & Smith, A. C. (2021). The clinical effectiveness of telehealth: A systematic review of meta-analyses from 2010 to 2019.Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 1357633X211022907. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X211022907
Su, Y.-Y., Huang, S.-T., Wu, Y.-H., & Chen, C.-M. (2020). Factors Affecting Patients’ Acceptance of and Satisfaction with Cloud-Based Telehealth for Chronic Disease Management: A Case Study in the Workplace. Applied Clinical Informatics, 11(2), 286–294. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0040-1708838
Tsou, C., Robinson, S., Boyd, J., Jamieson, A., Blakeman, R., Bosich, K., Yeung, J., Waters, S., &Hendrie, D. (2020). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of telehealth in rural and remote emergency departments: A systematic review protocol.Systematic Reviews, 9(1), 82. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-020-01349-y
Sample Answer 2 for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
Success in health care industry is often measured through patient outcomes. This metric is vital in ensuring that the available practices and procedures are efficient and also help in recognizing the ones that are not effective. Nonetheless, measuring patient outcomes is always associated with big data sets that are utilized to enhance these results in several ways. In turn, health informatics can play crucial role in this process. For instance, informatics can help in appropriately gathering, assessing, and leveraging the data, which can be used to enhance processes, improve efficiency, identify patients who are at risk, and advance research in an effort to enhance patient outcomes. Moreover, McGonigle & Mastrian (2017) argue that informatics has led to emergence of new technologies in clinical practice such as smart pumps, electronic health records, wearables, bar-code medication administration systems, and smartphones which are designed to enhance efficiency, foster safety, and streamline nursing practice. As such, it is imperative for nurses to have informatics competency to help them fostering effective communication, mitigating medical errors, managing knowledge, and supporting point of care decision making (Glassman, 2017). It is against this backdrop that this paper will explore use of electronic health records (EHR) as the proposed nursing informatics project to improve patient outcomes and care efficiencies.
Description of the Project
EHRs connote the digital adaption of patient paper based health records. The initiative has been proposed to address the issues that arise from the paper-based health records such as duplication, errors in drug administration, loss of records, mistaken identity, making of uninformed clinical decisions, and inefficient billing (Kruse et al., 2017). Since the health care environment is consistently changing and becoming highly competitive, the adoption of the EHRs can play a vital role in leveraging the patient care delivery and enhance the competitive capability of the care organization. Given the vital role that EHRs play in health care, Glassman (2017) calls for the meaningful use of EHRs. This involves sharing the data with patients and engaging them in their care within the frameworks of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Moreover, crucial patient care devices including vital sign monitors, cardiac monitors, and I.V. infusion pumps can be connected to EHRs to enhance the capacity of initiative and further improve patient outcomes (Glassman, 2017). Essentially, the use of EHRs is also supported by the American Nurses Association who calls for universally recognized terminologies among its members to support nursing practice within the EHR solutions (American Nurses Association, 2018).
Stakeholders
Clinicians
Clinicians encompass health care providers such as physicians, nurses, and pharmacists et cetera who take center stage in patient care provision. Therefore, EHR implementation will help them to access accurate and updated patient records to enable them provide the best diagnosis and treatment to realize positive patient outcomes.
The Management
This is the key stakeholder who can either ensure the success of the project or its failure. A good management should provide all necessary support required for change and ensure that the project aligns with the expectations of other players. The success of the project will enhance the health setting’s reputation as an affordable, quality health care provider.
The Patients
This is the primary stakeholder for implementing the EHR project. All the EHR endeavors are designed to improve the outcomes for patients and so, the project is designed to benefit the patients. Essentially, the success of the project will be measured based on the outcomes of the patients.
Front Office Staff
The staff at the front office plays a vital role in EHR implementation because they are tasked with key responsibility of feeding critical patient information including medical history, demographic, billing, and contact information into the EHR system. Any inappropriate entry in the system may lead to adverse impacts for patients.
EHR Vendors
EHR vendors are expected to design flexible systems that can meet the expectation of the organization, failure to which, the project will face eminent fall.
Patient Outcomes or Patient-Care Efficiencies
The implementation of EHRs will ensure enhancement of patient outcomes through provision of quality care. EHRs ensure provision of real-time, patient-oriented health data that are availed instantly and safely to the authorized users. Moreover, apart from providing medical and treatment history of the patient, EHRs also enable wider options of patient care due to its capability of accessing evidence-based care practice tools that can help providers to make informed decisions at the point of care. In addition, EHRs enables real-time point of care communication, which is essential in avoiding time wasted in peruse manual health records. Ultimately, the implementation of EHRs will lead to positive patient outcomes such as quality of health care, patient-centered care, reduction in hospital stays, and reductions in health care costs (Wani & Malhotra, 2018).
Technologies Required for the Project
Technology is a vital requirement in optimization of EHR. The project will require a standard server to join together with the rest of the system in the health care setting. The available computers will be utilized in EHR system, but they will be upgraded with the current operating system. To address compatibility issues, EHR system will be updated to be compatible with OS and windows. Moreover, the IT experts will be required to conduct training among the stakeholders to create awareness on how the system operates and the kind of processes that will be needed in every stage. Other technological requirements include application of virtual assistants to help in documentation, improving the interoperability through artificial intelligence, and optimizing the interface of EHR to increase usability.
The Project Team
The Project Manager
The project manager (PM) is one of the key members of the project team. The PM is expected to be technologically savvy and experienced in EHR implementation. The PM is tasked with responsibilities of overseeing the overall success of the project including attaining requirements and realizing deadlines for the implementation of the new EHR system (Vant, 2020).Moreover, the PM links various phases of the project to sophistically integrate and work together. The PM is also expected to facilitate the processes of planning, developing, designing, implementing, and testing phases of EHR to ensure they coordinate their effects to realize the desired goal of the project.
Physicians
Physicians are tasked with important responsibilities in EHR project including creating goals for the EHR implementation, identifying the best EHR vendor, trail staff satisfaction, address clinical needs, assess and select technology, defining the scope of the project and establishing budget, anticipate the profitability and check the progress, and to monitor the effect of the EHR on productivity.
Clinicians
Clinicians are expected to play a role of evaluating clinical workflows and propose changes, scrutinizing the clinical usability of the EHR software, and validating the descriptions of future clinical workflow. Moreover, clinicians can potentially work alongside EHR vendor to address any issue and also champion for the project among colleagues.
IT Experts
The IT professionals have responsibilities of evaluating software and hardware requirements, deal with or supervise system maintenance or upgrades, run system testing and go-live, and coordinate support and service for the system. The IT experts may also collaborate with the vendor for trouble shooting and also act as project manager.
Office Manager
The office manager is responsible for appraising the routine usability of EHR software, managing the change from paper-based records to digital records, help in overseeing system training, managing integration with supporting software such as back-office applications, recognize data transformation and reporting needs, and supervise EHR integration with legacy technology.
Front Office Staff
During the project implementation, the front office staff are tasked with various responsibilities including data entry to facilitate billing and coding, routine change from normal paper records to EHR data, use and testing crucial functions including scheduling, documentation of patient records such as insurance authorization, confirm data swap with pharmacies and other vendors, and recording any hitches or incompatibility in routine operations.
Essentially, engaging the project team is crucial in integrating all the features that are required in different stages and departments ranging from patient visit to the treatment process. Regarding the role of nurse informaticist, McGonigle & Mastrian (2017) postulate that they play a vital role of gathering and analyzing complex patient data and diffusing to different concerned stakeholders within the EHR system. Moreover, nurse informaticists also initiative system changes and improvement alongside IT experts to ensure quality service provision.
References
American Nurses Association. (2018). Inclusion of recognized terminologies supporting nursing practice within electronic health records and other health information technology solutions. Retrieved from https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-position-statements/id/Inclusion-of-Recognized-Terminologies-Supporting-Nursing-Practice-within-Electronic-Health-Records/
Glassman, K. S. (2017). Using data in nursing practice. American Nurse Today, 12(11), 45–47. Retrieved from https://www.americannursetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ant11-Data-1030.pdf
Kruse, C. S., Mileski, M., Vijaykumar, A. G., Viswanathan, S. V., Suskandla, U., & Chidambaram, Y. (2017). Impact of electronic health records on long-term care facilities: systematic review. JMIR medical informatics, 5(3), e35.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Vant, A. (2020). Four Crucial Members of an EHR Implementation Team. Ehrinpractice.com. Retrieved 11 June 2020, from https://www.ehrinpractice.com/four-crucial-members-of-an-ehr-implementation-team-154.html.
Wani, D., & Malhotra, M. (2018). Does the meaningful use of electronic health records improve patient outcomes?. Journal of Operations Management, 60, 1-18.
Sample Answer 3 for NURS 6051 Assignment The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies
In the healthcare industry, the main way of determining success is through patient outcomes. Mostly, this is defined as the fulfillment of care goals for both the provider and patient. Health informatics on the other hand has changed the face of the current healthcare system towards improving patient outcomes. Several aspects of technology such as electronic health records have improved how information is collected, analyzed, and retrieved by healthcare providers to enhance the efficiency and safety of the care provided (Carrington et al., 2018). Several other forms of new technology which play a significant role in promoting the efficiency and patient outcome include mHealth, telehealth, Interoperable Healthcare Information Technology (Health IT) Systems, The Cloud & Data Analytics, Wearables, Artificial Intelligence and 3D Bioprinting among others. For my current organization, I would like to propose the incorporation of telehealth to enhance the quality and safety of care provision, for improved patient care outcomes.
Project Description
In nursing informatics, telehealth is defined as the utilization of digital and communication technologies, such as mobile devices and computers to access healthcare services remotely and promote care delivery. As a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic, several healthcare organizations across the globe have been facing increasing challenges with a shortage of healthcare professionals and overcrowding in the care settings from increased consumer levels (Dosaj et al., 2021). Nursing informatics on the other hand have been trying to introduce new technologies to help curb such problems and reduce the rate of transmission. As a result, the most appropriate approach proposed by the WHO among other international organizations is to promote the provision of home-based care to reduce the number of patients visiting hospitals. Through telehealth, the patient will be able to access healthcare services and relevant health information from their homes, rather than visiting the hospital.
Stakeholders
For the appropriate incorporation of telehealth in our healthcare organization, it is important to identify all the stakeholders who will be impacted by the new technology for appropriate preparedness strategies. Such stakeholders include patients, physicians, nurses, students/residents, IT department team, nurse informaticists, hospital administrators, billing department, and organization investors among others (Valentine et al., 2021). The clinicians and the patients are the main stakeholders who will utilize the devices daily, hence face the greatest impact. The IT department team and nurse informaticists will be responsible for the implementation of telehealth through planning and making sure that the implemented technology is working appropriately. The hospital administration and the billing departments will help in aligning hospital records and payment plans, in addition to managing the availability of clinicians to patient demand through the electronic platform. The organization investors on the other hand will help in funding for the acquisition of the necessary resources and training of healthcare providers for effective implementation of telehealth.
Patient Outcome(s) or Patient-Care Efficiencies
Through evidence-based practice, telehealth promotes communication and counseling in addition to remote monitoring of patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and respiratory disorders. This results in improved patient outcomes in terms of reduced morbidity and mortality rates, improved quality of life, and reduced rate of hospital admission. Consequently, telehealth reduces the number of hospital visits for patients with chronic conditions promoting their compliance to the assigned treatment plan (Ford et al., 2020). Telehealth makes it easy to adhere to follow-up appointments from their homes, promoting therapeutic drug monitoring hence improved patient outcomes. Reviewing test results such as laboratory workup normally requires a patient understanding of what exactly the results of those tests reveal. This is not normally achieved in hospital settings as a result of overcrowding and limited time with the physician. However, with telehealth, patient and providers can communicate face to face, to improve the understanding of their test results, deepening their relationship, and promoting patient satisfaction through reimbursement for their time.
Additionally, telehealth increases the accessibility of health at a reduced cost promoting preventive care for early detection and treatment of several illnesses. In terms of accessibility, the individual no longer has to visit hospitals in the presence of telehealth. Whenever one feels sick, they only have to rich out their computers or mobile phones and book appointment with the physician, which will happen online (List et al., 2019). The patient is thus able to receive care services at a reduced cost as they no longer incur transportation costs or miss going to work. Consequently, the main barrier to preventive care services is normally associated with accessibility and increased cost. However, this is not the case with telehealth. As such patients can consult on routine screening services and well-visit check-up services from their homes, promoting the quality of life and health of their loved ones.
Technologies Required for the Project
For the appropriate implementation of telehealth, several pieces of equipment, both software and hardware, will be required. Most of these technologies required depend on the type of care provided. For remote patient monitoring, self-monitoring or self-test devices such as diabetes or hypertension warbles will be required. For diagnostic services, store-and-forward technologies will be required to enhance sending of digital images such as x-rays from physicians to radiologists for review (Ford et al., 2020). For real-time video and audio communication, computers, and mobile phones will be required in addition to internet platforms to promote efficient communication between the healthcare provider and the patient. Electronic health record software will also be necessary for the integration of scheduling to reduce the burden on office staff. The eligibility rules engine must also be established to ensure that providers get paid. Other personal health apps which will be required include store personal health information, calculator and tracker for calorie intake, vital sign recorder, and schedule reminder for health appointments.
The Project Team
For successful implementation of the project, an interdisciplinary team will come together playing different roles. The first team will comprise of core team members who will be responsible and accountable for formulating the project plan, and push it forward. The core team members will comprise clinical representatives such as physicians and nurses; administrative representatives such as practice managers, schedulers, and administrators; information technology or information security representatives; payor contractor; project managers; and priority department representatives (Valentine et al., 2021). The second team member, the leadership team, will comprise of high-level decision-makers who will authorize major decisions, approve the project plan, and provide and approve budgetary. The leadership team members will include practice owners and partners, executive members of the board, and the board of directors. The third team, the advisory team will comprise a group of advisors who will offer consultation services and guidance for the core team to ensure that the proposed plan is strategically sound. The advisory team will be divided into two, the first being the end uses who will include practicing care team members and the patient advisory board, parents, and caregivers, and the second being the organizational navigation.
The last group will be the implementation team, where the nurse informaticists will play a significant role. The nurse informaticists together with other members of this team will be informed of the plan and carry out the day-to-day implementation of the project into actual practice. The other team member will comprise the nurse manager, billing manager, schedulers, priority manager, information technologists, and information security representatives (Dosaj et al., 2021). The nurse informaticists will help bridge the knowledge gap between information technologists and healthcare providers, in terms of how the new system works and how it will impact the care practice for better patient outcomes.
Conclusion
With the increasing number of patients as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals are depending on nursing informaticists to come up with the most appropriate technologies to help curb associated challenges. As such, several technologies have been introduced which have displayed great outcome in promoting patient safety and quality of care provided (Carrington et al., 2018). One of the main tools adopted across several healthcare organizations is telehealth. this technology has promoted home-based care with close monitoring of patients diagnosed with chronic conditions without visiting hospital settings.
References
Carrington, J. M., Estrada, N., Brittain, A. C., Dudding, K. M., Galatzan, B. J., Nibbelink, C., … & Renz, S. M. (2018). Nursing informatics year in review 2017. Nursing administration quarterly, 42(2), 180-185. DOI: 10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000284
List, B. A., Saxon, R., Lehman, D., Frank, C., & Toole, K. P. (2019). Improving telehealth knowledge in nurse practitioner training for rural and underserved populations. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(1), 57-60. https://doi.org/10.3928/01484834-20190103-10
Ford, D., Harvey, J. B., McElligott, J., King, K., Simpson, K. N., Valenta, S., … & Lenert, L. A. (2020). Leveraging health system telehealth and informatics infrastructure to create a continuum of services for COVID-19 screening, testing, and treatment. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 27(12), 1871-1877. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa157
Valentine, A. Z., Hall, S. S., Young, E., Brown, B. J., Groom, M. J., Hollis, C., & Hall, C. L. (2021). Implementation of telehealth services to assess, monitor, and treat neurodevelopmental disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(1), e22619. doi:10.2196/22619
Dosaj, A., Thiyagarajan, D., Ter Haar, C., Cheng, J., George, J., Wheatley, C., & Ramanathan, A. (2021). Rapid implementation of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Telemedicine and e-Health, 27(2), 116-120. https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2020.0219