Technology has been the backbone of medicine since the beginning and its prevalence in medicine today is far reaching and wide spread. Due to research and ingenuity, medical breakthroughs via technology may be credited for many of the life saving techniques used in medicine today. Likewise, technology may also be credited with much of the expense of healthcare, including the growing baby boomer population and their chronic conditions. Of interest, telehealth has been an impetus for research over the last decade due to its promise of increasing efficiencies, quality of care, and decreasing cost. In spite of this research, one of the most expensive of chronic condition, cancer, is severally lacking in the literature regarding telehealth. Further, policy makers have identified 30 day readmission rates as a way to measure quality in healthcare and payers have started decreasing payments for readmissions. A review of the literature regarding telehealth and 30 day readmission rates, as well as the design of a clinical trial to study the effect of telehealth on 30 day readmission rates in cancer patients will be explored. Statement of the Problem According to Mariotto, Yabroff, Shao, Feuer, and Brown (2011), the diagnosis and treatment of cancer is projected to cost the United Sates an estimated 157.77 billion per year by 2020, and prostate and breast cancer is anticipated to comprise a significant portion of the cost. Generally, the treatment of cancer includes many follow up appointments over a span of five or more years, and the use of telehealth with videoconferencing is of interest because it has the “ability to create and maintain a therapeutic relationship and yet provide access and quality care to a patient in a remote geograph... ... middle of paper ... ... Anglin, S. (2006). Success factors for telehealth—a case study. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 75(10), 755-763. Prinz, L., Cramer, M., & Englund, A. (2008). Telehealth: A policy analysis for quality, impact on patient outcomes, and political feasibility. Nursing outlook, 56(4), 152-158. Schlachta-Fairchild, L. (2001). Telehealth: a new venue for health care delivery. In Seminars in oncology nursing (Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 34-40). WB Saunders. Sorrells-Jones, J., Tschirch, P., & Liong, M. A. S. (2006). Nursing and telehealth: Opportunities for nurse leaders to shape the future. Nurse Leader, 4(5), 42-58. Walsh, M., & Coleman, J. R. (2005). Trials and tribulations: a small pilot telehealth home care program for medicare patients. Geriatric Nursing, 26(6), 343-346.
[20]Charles BL. (2000) Telemedicine can lower costs and improve access. Healthcare Financial Management. 54(4): 66.
Telehealth is the monitoring via remote exchange of physiological data between a patient at home and health care professionals at hospitals or clinics to assist with diagnosis and treatment. As our society ages and health care costs increase, government and private insurance payers are seeking technological interventions. Technological solutions may provide high quality healthcare services at a distance, utilize professional resources more effectively, and enable elderly and ill patients to remain in their own homes. Patients may experience decreased hospitalization and urgent care settings, and out of home care may not be required as the patient is monitored at home. However, no study has been able to prove telehealth benefits conclusively. This change in health care delivery presents new ethical concerns, and new relationship boundaries between health care professionals, patients, and family members. This paper will discuss telehealth benefits in specific patient populations, costs benefits of using telehealth, and concerns of using telehealth.
Prinz, L., Cramer, M. & Englund, A. (2008). Telehealth: A policy analysis for quality, impact on
XIAO-YING, Z., & PEIYING, Z. (2016). Telemedicine in clinical setting. Experimental & Therapeutic Medicine, 12(4), 2405-2407.
Telepsychiatry has been used for many years and is highly regarded as an area where the use of telemedicine has been successful. It has been defined as “The delivery of healthcare and the exchange of healthcare information for purposes of providing psychiatric services across distances” (Woo...
Among the main aims of health care reform and improvement is expanding healthcare access to different populations, which have been subjects to underserving for a long period. These include the poor, the previously uncovered, rural societies, and the minorities, to mention just a few. Great challenges definitely lie ahead, since several individuals start seeking access to the primary healthcare clinicians (Arnaert & Delesie, 2001). Telenursing assures to be a crucial tool to meet such needs. It refers to making use of the telehealth technology in conducting nursing practice and delivering nursing care. Because of the quick telemedicine technology adoption within the healthcare institutions, telenursing emerges as a fresh tool that provokes discussions
...opportunities and fantastic technologies. Advanced nursing education is permitting nurses to be leaders, while more and more aspects of the profession become electronic, such as MAR’s, labs, imaging results and many more.
Leadership in nursing is a valued skill. Without a strong leader, the entire system can fail. In my shadowing experience with a charge nurse on the telemetry floor, I realized what it means to be a leader on a busy hospital floor. Through this experience, I developed my own personal leadership philosophy, shadowed a strong leader on my unit, and interviewed him on his views of leadership.
Improving health is in the best interest of everyone, including non-health professionals. Health managers need to be constantly looking for ways to improve access to health care, the quality of the care, and cost containment. 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.”
Telemedicine is a new comer to the field of medicine and it is the treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology. Telemedicine is carried out in a variety of ways whether it is by smart phone, wireless tools or other forms of telecommunications. Examples of telemedicine include: 1) transmission of medical images 2) care services at the home of the patient 3) Diagnosis at distance 4) education and training of patients. The diversity of practices in what is known as telemedicine raises many questions and one of those questions, which is extremely important, relate to the safety of the practice and the risks involved.
Providers are faced with having to weigh the expense of investing in telehealth technologies with the ability to generate enough revenue to cover these costs. This is often difficult as expenses in the literature can cover those directly linked with the delivery of care (healthcare costs) and those that are not directly related to providing care (non-heath care costs) (Bergmo, 2009). Some of the healthcare costs a practitioner must consider are items such as computers, video cameras, microphones, modems, routers, software and other components such as specialized stethoscopes and imaging equipment needed to assess an individual patient. The cost of these items can add up quickly. As one study estimates, the capital expenditure for the implementation of telehealth video conferencing can reach as much as $80,000. The cost of transmitting data in order to deliver these services can also reach $800-$2000 per month in spoke and hub type telehealth systems (Gamble, Savage, & Icenogle, 2004). These costs incur even more ...
...ch like life in general, is full of uncertainty, as well as endless possibilities. As long as nursing continues to grow, there is no limit to the achievements that can be accomplished in the profession, for not only the individual patients, but also for the healthcare industry as a whole. Nurses must remember, that as they move forward, they will continue to break down barriers and stake their claim as a necessity in healthcare. Nurses must also hold tight to the teachings of their predecessors. The future of nursing holds great advances in healthcare and technology innovation; but, most importantly, the future of nursing needs to be saturated with nurses that are willing to put their heart and soul into healing the human spirit. The future of nursing must bring with it the teachings of the past, while providing their patients with the most qualified nursing care.
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.
From state and federal levels, the healthcare industry has come a very long way, experiencing changes along the way. The development of advanced technology that has enhanced the quality of healthcare delivery systems will help all patients to be able to benefit. Doctors are able to access patient records at a faster rate and respond to their patients in a much more timely fashion. E-mail, electronic transfer of records and telemedicine will give all patients and physicians the tools needed to be more efficient, deliver quality care and deliver quality telecommunication at a faster pace than before.
Telehealth nurses use the nursing process to provide care for individual patients or defined patient populations over a telecommunication device” (Stokowski, 2008).