Interactive Consumer Health Information Technology and the Elderly

591 Words2 Pages

The use of interactive consumer health information technology would be beneficial in the healthcare setting in order to monitor patient status, provide quality care, establish treatment goals, and communicate effectively with the healthcare providers. However, there are barriers in the usage of health information technology in the elderly population. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website, barriers include physical limitations which lead to increase need for assistance, computer literacy (63%), and computer anxiety (58%) (“Barriers and Drivers of Health Information Technology Use for the Elderly, Chronically Ill, and Underserved,” 2008). This author’s purpose is to help alleviate some of the barriers as previously mentioned in order to provide continuity in quality care in the elderly.
Liberty Village of Princeton is divided into five different halls. Each hall has a desk top computer in each of the nurse’s station. Also, there is a laptop computer on top of each of the med carts from each hall. The facility’s health information technology is called the Matrix Care. In the Matrix Care website, the facility’s residents’ information are uploaded which include the face sheet, daily Medicare charting, labs, orders, progress notes, care plan, resident documents such as activity documentation, behavior documentation, consent, consults, history and physical, POA/DNR/living will, resident forms, and therapy forms. Also, the nurses will find which medications and treatments are due during each shift with a green color for the hall she is assigned for that day. Once the nurse has completed her medications and treatments administration, the green color will no longer be present.
The Matrix C...

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...complaints from the families about quality care their loved ones received. Physicians also have access to the Matrix Care and are able to enter orders for the residents. Most of the nurses find Matrix Care very convenient with medication and treatment administration. Overall, the families thought that the facility is well-kept with health information technology in comparison to other long-term care facilities such as Colonial Hall and Greenfield in Princeton, Illinois.

References
Barriers and drivers of health information technology use for the elderly, chronically ill, and underserved. (2008). AHRQ. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from http://www.AHRQ.gov
Barriers and drivers of health information technology use for the elderly, chronically ill, and underserved. (2008). NCBI. Retrieved December 5, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK38648/#A289384

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