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NURS 6051 Literature Review The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies

NURS 6051 Literature Review The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies

NURS 6051 Literature Review The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies

The use of technology to leverage care interventions in different clinical settings and facilities cannot be overemphasized because of the critical role that it plays in enhancing patient safety and care outcomes. Clinical systems are essential tools in improving patients’ outcomes and efficiencies in healthcare delivery by reducing medication errors, promoting medication compliance and enabling providers to leverage technology for better decisions and informed interventions (Dykes et al., 2017). Personal health records or portals are some of the critical aspects that providers and healthcare systems use to support patients that have recently been diagnosed with diabetes. These portals offer access to health information from an organization’s electronic health record (EHR) and allow patients to conduct different medical-associated tasks like electronically communicating with their providers and even recording their symptoms (Tapuria et al., 2021). The purpose of this paper is to offer an annotated bibliography of the impact of personal health records or patient portals for individuals newly diagnosed with diabetes.

Coughlin, S. S., Williams, L. B., & Hatzigeorgiou, C. (2017). A systematic review of studies

of web portals for patients with diabetes mellitus. MHealth, 3(6). https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2017.05.05

In this systematic review of studies on the portal for patients with diabetes mellitus, the researchers evaluate the impact of patient health records to improve outcomes from interventions to control glycemic levels. The authors identified 12 studies on the topic that include three cross-sectional and five randomized controlled trials. The researchers required web portals meant for diabetes patients and those tethered to electronic medical records. The findings show that web portals enhance the ability of patients to communicate with their clinicians and attain enhanced glycemic control. The authors emphasize the need for additional research to understand the level of control for patients. However, they are categorical that web portals improve glycemic control for these patients.

The study shows that web portals are essential and improve outcomes for diabetic patients since they enhance communication between them and their clinicians. Through effective communication, clinicians improve efficiencies in care provisions for diabetes patients. The study indicates that providers should leverage technologies and encourage their patients to embrace them to reduce adverse disease outcomes. A critical lesson learned from the use of web portals based on the study is that few patients embrace this technology to enhance diabetes self-management and self-care. Consequently, providers should be trained to leverage its use to improve self-care interventions for patients in remote locations.

Sun, R., Korytkowski, M. T., Sereika, S. M., Saul, M. I., Li, D., & Burke, L. E. (2018).

Patient Portal Use in Diabetes Management: Literature Review. JMIR Diabetes, 3 (4): e11199. https://doi.org/10.2196/11199.

In this article, the researchers affirm the critical role that health information technology tools have in promoting engagement, improvement of patient-provider communication, and enhancing clinical outcomes in the management of chronic disorders like diabetes mellitus. Based on a review of literature, the researchers focus on evidence about the efficacy of patient portal use by patients with diabetes mellitus type 1 and 2. The study examines the link between patient portal use and diabetes mellitus-related outcomes. The authors identified opportunities for future improvement in the management of the condition. The findings also demonstrate the low levels of patient portal use among diabetes patients. The authors observed inconsistency in their findings of the use of these technologies among patients due to several barriers among patients and providers. While these portals enhance care and patient outcomes engagement of both providers and users will be critical to improving uptake.

The article shows that patient portal are critical to enhancing outcomes for individuals suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM). The portals improve communication and engagement between providers and patients. Effective engagement is a core aspect of patient participation and leads to better outcomes. These systems also improve efficiency as it eases interaction between nurses, clinicians and patients, and their families. The vital lesson learned from the study is that providers should encourage patients to embrace technology as a way to reduce over-reliance on clinicians to make decisions. These portals allow patients to check different components of their disease status and employ the right interventions to address any challenges. The article also implores further research to address the inconsistencies in results about the efficacy of patient portals to enhance care among diabetes patients, especially those newly diagnosed.

Sieverink, F., Kelders, S., Braakman-Jansen, A., & van Gemert-Pijnen, J. (2019).

Evaluating the implementation of a personal health record for chronic primary and secondary care: a mixed-methods approach. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 19(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-019-0969-7

In this study, the authors focus on evaluating the fidelity of personal health records (PHRs) in chronic care based on the level of implementation to ascertain the found effects or impacts. Using a mixed-method design, the researchers measure the responsiveness, the differences, and similarities between the intended and the real use of PHRs among a certain population sample. The study findings show that many providers were unaware of how to deploy the PHR in their present working routines. As such, they find it challenging to motivate and encourage their patients to use PHR. However, those participating in the user group indicated the value of a PHR in future interactions with their clinicians or care providers. The usability participants asserted that improvement in utilization among care providers will highly influence their decision to deploy the patient portals.

The findings show that the actual use of PHR by patients depended on the responsiveness of caregivers. Caregiver responsiveness relies on perceived support and fidelity by patients. However, the use of PHR intends to enhance efficiency and outcomes for patients with chronic conditions as outlined by the study. The critical lesson learned from this article is that providers have a substantial influence on technology uptake by patients in their settings, especially in the management of chronic conditions like diabetes mellitus. Fidelity by patients to PHR is an added advantage in enhancing the use of this technology among patients and their families. The study indicates that responsiveness from providers is a critical aspect of encouraging diabetic patients to embrace patient portals to enhance efficiency and care provision. The implication is that nurses should focus on interactive sessions and engage their diabetes patients to leverage technologies like web portals to improve care outcomes.

Reed, M. E., Huang, J., Brand, R. J., Neugebauer, R., Graetz, I., Hsu, J., … & Grant, R.

(2019). Patients with complex chronic conditions: Health care use and clinical events associated with access to a patient portal. PLoS One, 14(6), e0217636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217636

In this article, the researcher asserts that patients with diabetes can leverage patient portals to support self-management and coordination of health care services. The authors’ objective in the study was to examine the effects of access to the patient portal on the frequency of visits, emergency visits, and preventable admissions or hospitalizations. Using an observational study design, the researchers compare the visit rates with or without portal access among patients with chronic conditions, especially diabetes.

NURS 6051 Literature Review The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and EfficienciesThe study shows that access to patient portals is linked to increased rates of outpatient office visits in both diabetic patients and those with multiple complex conditions. Patient portals have a significant reduction on overall visits, right from emergency to office physician visits among diabetes and chronically ill patients. These findings show that portals web technology enhances care provision remotely for diabetes patients and improves expected outcomes. Access enhances engagement in outpatient visits allowing providers to address unmet clinical needs. The portals also reduce downstream health events that may necessitate emergency and hospital care, especially for diabetes patients and those with complex comorbidities.

Findings from this study are categorical that patient portals improve outcomes as they increase engagement between clinicians and patients in different care settings. The results also show that the motivation to use PHR is based on provider knowledge and engagement with patients and their families. The study demonstrates the need for providers to leverage educational interventions to enhance the deployment of patient portals for the management of diabetes and multiple chronic conditions.

Vital lessons learned from the use of the patient portal include the need for an interactive approach among the providers, patients, and the healthcare system. The study also shows the need to patients to enhance their engagement with technology to enhance overall outcomes and reduce visits to emergency rooms and physician offices. The article demonstrates the crucial role that web portals play in overall care delivery for diabetes patients.

Conclusion

The findings from the four peer-reviewed research articles demonstrate that patient portals are a critical component of enhancing overall care for individuals with diabetes, particularly those newly diagnosed. The portals allow patients to interact with providers remotely, record their symptoms, access tests, and laboratory results, and review their care plans. while several obstacles and factors influence the use of these portals, it is evident that they continue to constitute a core response to improve care delivery for patients with chronic conditions like diabetes. Studies by Abd-alrazaq et al. (2019) and Ruh and Chugh (2021) show that despite certain barriers to their deployment and embracement, patient portals are enhancing overall care delivery and allowing users to interact more. Through these interventions, clinicians and patients and their families work collaboratively to enhance overall care outcomes. These products provide a host of content, connectivity, and collaboration-associated features and functions for their users. The overall value of these technologies goes beyond the constituents of the health care delivery chain. However, there is a need for further research to enhance usability, adoption, and value among providers and patients to attain effective benefits and leverage from patient portals.

References

Abd-Alrazaq, A. A., Bewick, B. M., Farragher, T., & Gardner, P. (2019). Factors that affect the

use of electronic personal health records among patients: a systematic review. International journal of medical informatics, 126, 164-175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.03.014

Dykes, P. C., Rozenblum, R., Dalal, A., Massaro, A., Chang, F., Clements, M., Collins, S.

…Bates, D. W. (2017). Prospective evaluation of a multifaceted intervention to improve outcomes in intensive care: The Promoting Respect and Ongoing Safety Through Patient Engagement Communication and Technology Study. Critical Care Medicine, 45(8), e806–e813. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000002449

Coughlin, S. S., Williams, L. B., & Hatzigeorgiou, C. (2017). A systematic review of studies

of web portals for patients with diabetes mellitus. MHealth, 3(6). https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2017.05.05

Tapuria, A., Porat, T., Kalra, D., Dsouza, G., Xiaohui, S., & Curcin, V. (2021). Impact of patient

access to their electronic health record: a systematic review. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 46(2), 192-204. https://doi.org/10.1080/17538157.2021.1879810

Reed, M. E., Huang, J., Brand, R. J., Neugebauer, R., Graetz, I., Hsu, J., … & Grant, R.

(2019). Patients with complex chronic conditions: Health care use and clinical events associated with access to a patient portal. PLoS One, 14(6), e0217636. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217636

Ruhi, U., & Chugh, R. (2021). Utility, Value, and Benefits of Contemporary Personal Health

Records: Integrative Review and Conceptual Synthesis. Journal of medical Internetresearch, 23(4), e26877. https://doi.org/10.2196/26877

Sieverink, F., Kelders, S., Braakman-Jansen, A., & van Gemert-Pijnen, J. (2019).

Evaluating the implementation of a personal health record for chronic primary and secondary care: a mixed-methods approach. BMC medical informatics and decisionmaking, 19(1), 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-019-0969-7

Sun, R., Korytkowski, M. T., Sereika, S. M., Saul, M. I., Li, D., & Burke, L. E. (2018).

Patient Portal Use in Diabetes Management: Literature Review. JMIR Diabetes, 3 (4): e11199. DOI: 10.2196/11199.