NSG 5270 Information Management and Data Analysis

In this paper, students will examine telehealth, discuss one specific emerging telehealth tool, and identify implications of how telehealth impacts emerging telehealth nursing roles.  Students will also use standard criteria to identify credible websites for a selected telehealth population and design a teaching plan to empower this population to evaluate health information on the Web.

Include the following in the scholarly paper as the work is composed and organized:

Telehealth Care and Telenursing

• • Discuss the clinical and non-clinical uses of this technology and provide examples
  • Identify the required safety and security provisions/standards for telehealth applications:
    • Ethical (including the American Nurses Association “Code”)
    • Legal (including “Meaningful Use” according to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [ARRA])
    • Regulatory (credentialing and certification)
  • Generate a table of the major benefits and current challenges to adoption of telehealth applications
  • Analyze how telehealth affects patients’ empowerment and patients’ engagement in their own health
  • As a master’s prepared nurse in an advanced practice role, discuss how you would evaluate the quality and effectiveness of a telehealth tool

Introduction

It could not be disputed at all if the numerous technological advancements in the health sector projected towards improving health care services provision to the patients. Further, technological revolution promotes efficient monitoring of the patients’ health status and improving the local community and nationwide health condition. Telehealth is a complex terminology that encompasses the application of electronic information and the telecommunication technologies to promote the clinical healthcare, the public health information exchange, and the health administration (Gallagher, Moore, & Campbell, 2016). Also, telehealth care has incorporated the telemedicine and has shown a positive reflection of the multidisciplinary manner of the field and the gradual growth of the telecommunications and the health resources through the established med-websites. In this assignment, I shall discuss telehealth care, its impacts on the nursing role, and the usage of the standards for the evaluation and recommendation of credible health websites for the patients.  

Telehealth Care Application

Clinical Usage

The telehealth technology has improved the clinical intervention and patient assessment by both the general and nurse practitioner. Through several devices and the different applications clinically, telemedicine technology has made a greater impact on the patient’s health care and their safety. For instance, Glucoboy and Digiscope are some of the new techniques in the telehealth care. The Glucoboy get clinically applied as a diabetic tool in the format of a video game cartridge (Nagel, Polerleau, & Penner, 2013). The cartridge is usually inserted into the Nintendo's Game Boy and helps young children in the management of the type1 diabetes mellitus. Alternatively, the Digiscope applies in the screening of the diabetic retinopathy in the primary care at the physician’s office unlike earlier on when it was under the specialized care of the ophthalmologist.

Non- Clinical Usage

Telehealth has created an attractive platform which offers a broad range of training and the support strategies which are vital to the contemporary health practitioners and the patients specifically in the rural areas. Through the telehealth, professional development has got enhanced, health information and ideas shared and improving the competencies of the health practitioners due to networking between the metropolitan and the rural areas. The networking gets done through teleconferencing of health cases and offering a more secure medium for the conduction of the clinical case reviews (Chang, Lee, & Mills, 2017). Moreover, telehealth has made the patients to be active participants in the health sector. Patients can now access the health websites and learn about their medical condition, which disease they have, the condition and how it gets managed. Also, through the med-websites, may get to understand the practitioner’s treatment procedures they get subjected to and whether the right medication has got offered. Through the aggressive searches and learning online, there is the promotion of patient compliance.

Ethical Considerations of Telehealth

Safety

In the health care sector, the patient’s safety gets offered priority. Compliance and the surveillance issues emerge after the patient leaves the physician’s office. The compliance and adherence are the problems that telehealth solves towards the attainment of patient safety. It happens that some patients upon leaving the hospital they may fail to follow the medical instructions prescribed (Dewar, et al., 2016). Further, some patients may fail to follow the treatment plan directed by the physician as a result of ineffective communication, misunderstanding of the scheme, inaccessibility of the necessary treatment plan facilities. Furthermore, some treatment regimen are too complicated for the patient to understand and comprehend without extra guidance. All the mentioned factors may result in adverse health outcomes and cause many safety issues on the patient (Jang-Jaccard, Nepal, Alem, & Li, 2014). Therefore, the innovative and inventive of the efficient telehealth care based methods for the provision of health care to the patients are widely applicable in improving the compliance and adherence to the physician’s prescribed regimen for patient care, including the symptom management.

Security

In the traditional medical delivery, patient’s information would be accessed by unauthorized personnel in some instances when left unsecured. This violates the patient’s rights for keeping his/her information private and confidential as outlined in the Ethics and Professional Code of Conduct for the nurses while in practice (Kvedar, Coye, & Everett, 2014). Telehealth has managed to solve this issue through the setting up of patients and healthcare providers’ security logins. Also, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has got the patients’ information kept privately and confidently an established protocol safeguarding patients’ data.

Legal, Regulatory and Certifications

Legal- Meaningful Use.

The meaningful use got presented under the rule of the electronic devices application to improve the clients’ outcomes and advance the patient-centred care. Applying the ideology of the meaningful use would be essential for a partnership to co-exist between the firm management and the healthcare providers (Papanagnou, Sicks, & Hollander, 2015). The meaningful use signifies that nursing practices should impact the community positively and raise the level of patient care.

Regulatory

Both the state and national governments have actively got involved in setting standards for the health acre provision. The legal rights meant for the public protection from inadequate and dangerous health care provision (Bagayoko, et al., 2014). The public has got protection through the creation of departments such as the Department of Health and Human Resources that plays a key role in the formulation and implementation of nursing practice standards.

Certifications

Due to the need of qualified professionals to offer telehealth acre, programs such as Certified Telehealth Coordinator and Technology Professional have got establishment. The programs are designed to impart relevant skills for the correct and confidential manner of coordinating the virtual encounters between the physicians and the clients (Bitton, Poku, & Bates, 2015). Upon completion of the program, a nursing graduate receives a certification as he/she proceeds to the practical field to use telehealth systems in improving the healthcare access in the rural and the medically-underserved populations.

Merits and Demerits of the Telehealth

Impact of Telehealth on Patients

Engagement

Telehealth has made the patients to get committed and actively offer their participation in the health care sector. It has led to increased desire of patients to know more about the treatment procedures and plans put in place to improve the health care services provision (Kvedar, Coye, & Everett, 2014). The telehealth technologies used do engage the patients through accessible ways, where they offer an equal participation, thus, promoting enhanced care and fruitful care.

Empowerment

The telehealth technologies have significantly empowered the patient. The patient has got the access to his/her health information, treatment plan, and procedures and can obtain all the necessary medical information regarding his/her condition (Chang, Lee, & Mills, 2017). Through this, the powers traditionally vested on the clinicians only got devolved. Currently, the patients are empowered to make informed decisions regarding their treatment procedure and the action plan.

Telehealth Application Example

Glucose Meter Device

This device is used to monitor patients with diabetes and also for those that are under the cardiac nursing care to monitor the heart or blood pressure. The device applies Remote Patient Monitoring technology to send data obtained from the patient to the physician via a telehealth computer system. For data transmission, a particular type of software application gets installed on the patient’s mobile phone or tablet gadget (Brophy, 2017). The patient data received get stored in a database which is relational such that the healthcare provider would view it as a new trend.

Websites and Teaching Plan

Websites

Several websites have been developed to provide the practical information which concerns the telehealth practice. The sites include; the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), University of Colorado (UC) Telemental Health Guide “Eliminating Mental Health Disparities,” Center for Telehealth and e-Health Law (CTeL), Telehealth Times, Telemental Health Institute and Northern Arizona Regional Behavioral Health Authority (NARBHA) among others (Whitten, Holtz, Cornacchione, & Wirth, 2011). The stated organizations have got their websites which offer telehealth information which is accessible globally.

Teaching Plan

Telehealth application information should get provided by the general or nursing practitioner. The practitioner should disperse relevant knowledge on they shall be capable of accessing telehealth websites which are credited to provide reliable and accurate health information (Evans, et al., 2016). Upon the patient visiting the physician’s office, he/she get accorded with a written note for future reference. Furthermore, practitioners should give out journal articles, health documentaries, health newspapers and other reliable written sources which patients may read to acquire more information on the usage of telehealth technology and websites.

Conclusion

Telehealth has revolutionized the health sector and resulted in better health care services in rural areas. It has got several advantages such as ensuring faster health care provision, remote health monitoring, reliable health information through the med-websites. Further, it has promoted patient engagement and active participation in decision making regarding their health condition. It has encouraged the virtual means to offer health services globally. The Remote Patient Monitoring technology has made it possible for the patient with diabetes or those receiving cardiac care to check their heart or blood pressure while at their homes. The data from remote get shared via the special software installed on the patient’s smartphone or personal computer to the physician’s office computer. Regardless of telehealth merits, issues about it have emerged concerning the security risks it may pose and whether it guarantees the privacy of patient’s information.

References

Bagayoko, C. O., Traoré, D., Thevoz, L., Diabaté, S., Pecoul, D., Niang, M., ... & Geissbuhler, A. (2014). Medical and economic benefits of telehealth in low-and middle-income countries: results of a study in four district hospitals in Mali. BMC health services research, 14(1), S9.

Bitton, A., Poku, M., & Bates, D. W. (2015). Policy context and considerations for patient engagement with health information technology. Information Technology for Patient Empowerment in Healthcare, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 75-92.

Brophy, P. D. (2017). Overview on the Challenges and Benefits of Using Telehealth Tools in a Pediatric Population. Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, 24(1), 17-21.

Chang, C. P., Lee, T. T., & Mills, M. E. (2017). Experience of Home Telehealth Technology in Older Patients With Diabetes. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing.

Dewar, A. R., Bull, T. P., Sproat, J. M., Reyes, N. P., Malvey, D. M., & Szalma, J. L. (2016, September). Testing the Reliability of a Measure of Motivation to Engage With Telehealth Technology. In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting (Vol. 60, No. 1, pp. 1114-1118). Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.

Evans, J., Papadopoulos, A., Silvers, C. T., Charness, N., Boot, W. R., Schlachta-Fairchild, L., ... & Ent, C. B. (2016). Remote health monitoring for older adults and those with heart failure: Adherence and system usability. Telemedicine and e-Health, 22(6), 480-488.

Gallagher, C. M., Moore, J. A., & Campbell, B. C. (2016). Utilizing information and telehealth technology to enhance clinical ethics education outreach.

Jang-Jaccard, J., Nepal, S., Alem, L., & Li, J. (2014). Barriers for delivering telehealth in rural Australia: a review based on Australian trials and studies. Telemedicine and e-Health, 20(5), 496-504.

Kvedar, J., Coye, M. J., & Everett, W. (2014). Connected health: a review of technologies and strategies to improve patient care with telemedicine and telehealth. Health Affairs, 33(2), 194-199.

Nagel, D. A., Pomerleau, S. G., & Penner, J. L. (2013). Knowing, Caring, and Telehealth Technology: “Going the Distance” in Nursing Practice. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 31(2), 104-112.

Papanagnou, D., Sicks, S., & Hollander, J. E. (2015). Training the Next Generation of Care Providers: Focus on Telehealth. Healthcare Transformation, 1(1), 52-63.

Whitten, P., Holtz, B., Cornacchione, J., & Wirth, C. (2011). An evaluation of telehealth websites for design, literacy, information and content. Journal of telemedicine and telecare, 17(1), 31-35.