On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signs into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The law promotes electronic health records and infrastructure development to cut costs in health care. While the law does not mandate their use, the federal government has set aside twenty billion dollars to help in the development of a strong health information technology infrastructure. Title IV states, “NO INCENTIVE PAYMENT IF FIRST ADOPTING AFTER 2014” (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 2009). In times of economic turmoil, medical organizations are scrambling to make a profit or just break even. So, the government has successfully made their point; however, clients who use health care suffer by losing personable interactions. Without considering the human touch, communication between health institutions can save money and lives. Imagine a client who is rushed into the emergency department (ED) and cannot remember important information the physician needs. The client stresses, which adds to the emergency; and the physician waits to diagnosis until the medical records arrive. A way to improve emergent situations is through telemedicine (Gaguski, 2007). The electronic submission of medical records is one component; however, video conferences, client portals, transmissions of vital signs, and call centers for medical advice are all parts of telemedicine ("Telemedicine Defined," 2010). Clients who live in remote communities benefit from telemedicine because they do not drive for medical advice, education, or vital signs (Gaguski, 2007). While saving money and time, rural citizens have access to updated health care. When a family member has to work, telemedicine is more available and increases participation... ... middle of paper ... .... L. Brock, Communication in nursing (6th ed., pp. 74-86). St. Louis, MO: Mosby’s Elsevier. Gaguski, M. E. (2007, December). Patient care goes paperless as telemedicine moves mainstream. ONS Connect, 22. Retrieved from https://oncourse.iu.edu/access/content/group/SU10-CO-NURS-B231-1446/Assignment%20_4%20article.pdf Lillibridge, J., & Hanna, B. (2008, November 26). Using telehealth to deliver nursing case management services to HIV/AIDS clients. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 14(1), 9. doi:10.3912/OJIN.Vol14No1PPT02 Palkon, D. S., & Baranczyk, O. (2009, Fall). Dr. Elliot Justin: Chief executive officer and founder of swiftMD. Hospital Topics, 87(4), 22-25. Retrieved from http://www.ebscohost.com Telemedicine defined. (2010, May 21). American telemedicine association. Retrieved May 21, 2010, from http://www.americantelemed.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3333
Wade, V. A., Karnon, J. Elshaug, A., & Hiller, J. E. (2010). A systematic review of economic analyses of telehealth services using real time video communication. BMC Health Service Research,
Sevean, P., Dampier, S., Spadoni, M., Strickland, S., Pilatzke, S., (2008). Patients and families experiences with video telehelath in rural/remote communities in northern canada. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18. 2573-2579.
In 2009 President Obama, through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, pledged to provide incentives to the nation’s physicians and hospitals to convert to an electronic healthcare system in attempt to improve the quality of care and reduce cost (Freudenheim, 2010). By converting to an electronic system, we have the opportunity for improved communication between all healthcare providers and decreased cost to our healthcare system. The goal is to improve communication across all aspects of the service chain (Horan, Botts & Burkhard, 2010). Almost two years later, the conversion progress continues to be slow. Only one in four physician’s offices, mostly large groups, have implemented the electronic record system (Freudenheim, 2010).
Prinz, L., Cramer, M. & Englund, A. (2008). Telehealth: A policy analysis for quality, impact on
The delivery of health care has always been influenced by technological developments and innovations. This is particularly true in modern health care professionals where they are obsessed with technology and rush to apply them. One of the most recent applications of ICT – Information and computer technology- is telehealth. Telehealth is the use of communication, diagnostic and information technology to provide health care when patients and providers are geographically separated [2], Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, store -and-forward imaging, streaming media, terrestrial and wireless communications. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as sophisticated as doing robotic surgery between facilities at different ends of the globe.
Morrissey, J. (2013, October 1). Telemedicine: “If you aren’t doing anything now, you’re way behind”. Hospitals & Health Networks, 87(10), 22-23.
Often the biggest barriers to accessing healthcare are cost and location. Lower income individuals just do not have the resources to have optimal healthcare, or cannot take the time away from employment to deal with health issues. One potential solution to help with these problems could be “telehealth.” Telehealth allows a lower level healthcare practitioner to communicate with a physician or specialists when necessary. Remote rural areas use a Physician Assistant or a Nurse Practitioner on location in remote areas. When procedures call for a physician, an internet or satellite link provides a teleconference with a physician who can prescribe appropriate treatment (Gangon, Duplantie, Fortin & Landry 2006). This could be implemented in lower income urban areas, allowing free clinics to lower costs, and require fewer physicians.
We live in the era of technology and telehealth is becoming a part of our lives. According to Guido (2014), telehealth Is a removal of time and distance barriers for the delivery of health care services and related health care activities. Internet and other communication technologies are the means for health care professionals to practice across state lines.
Telehealth is the provision of Healthcare services through diverse technological methods from a distance (Hill & Miller, 2012). Clinicians can converse with patients through a myriad of options such as videoconferencing and email.
The unit I worked at, we are very familiar with telemedicine (telehealth) especially in the weekends/holidays when we don’t have providers on site available to assess and evaluate patients who need their expertise. After patients are evaluated and admitted to our floor, they describe their experience about telemedicine as convenient, minimal waiting time, and getting an instant medical answer. Whereas the disadvantages of using telemedicine are a power outage, slow internet connection, loss of privacy and confidentiality, no consultation, and even no stable patient-nurse relationship. According to WHO, despite those barriers, telemedicine has the potential to decrease emergency room visits and hospitalizations, promote quality care for patients
Advances in technology have influences our society at home, work and in our health care. It all started with online banking, atm cards, and availability of children’s grades online, and buying tickets for social outings. There was nothing electronic about going the doctor’s office. Health care cost has been rising and medical errors resulting in loss of life cried for change. As technologies advanced, the process to reduce medical errors and protect important health care information was evolving. In January 2004, President Bush announced in the State of the Union address the plan to launch an electronic health record (EHR) within the next ten years (American Healthtech, 2012).
In most of the rural health care settings, patients are prone to higher risk of illness due to the lack of proper diagnosis and care quality. This article has discussed the use of telemedicine in such health care settings for improving quality, increasing the time for patient physician interaction and for providing cost effective treatment. The goal of this research is to evaluate the stabilization time and to detect the psychological changes in the patients after using the CDSS. The study was conducted in four hospitals and the data was collected from the recognized websites. Only the retrospective data was collected for effective results. Consent form was signed from both the patients and the referral physicians. A randomization process was
Mandl, Kenneth, MD., Kohane, Isaac, MD., Brandt, Allan, MD. (1998). “Electronic Patient – Physician Communication: Problems and Promise”. Annals of Internal Medicine, 129, 495 – 500.
Telehealth nurses use the nursing process to provide care for individual patients or defined patient populations over a telecommunication device” (Stokowski, 2008).
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been shown to be increasingly important in the education or training and professional practice of healthcare. This paper discusses the impacts of using ICT in Healthcare and its administration. Health Information technology has availed better access to information, improved communication amongst physicians, clinicians, pharmacists and other healthcare workers facilitating continuing professional development for healthcare professionals, patients and the community as a whole. This paper takes a look at the roles, benefits of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in healthcare services and goes on to outline the ICT proceeds/equipment used in the health sector such as the