NR 512 Week 5 Assignment: HealthIT Topic of Week Assignment: Telehealth or Telemedicine

Telehealth Effect on Healthcare Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 512: Fundamentals of Nursing Informatics Telehealth Effect on Healthcare The innovation of computer technologies has push ed healthcare to new limits for both the good and the bad. Telehealth is the use of telecommunications such as computer, television monitors and mobile device technologies to transmit electronic information (Markwick, McConnochie & Wood, 2015). Telehealth provides for and expanded care for patients and a new avenue of practice for nursing. Healthcare, as a consumer based product, can use telehealth as the solution for keeping up with changing populations needs and growing use of technology. This paper will focus on the healthIT topic of telehealth, the impact on nurse practice, the informatics skills and knowledge, and end with a conclusion and what this nurse learned about telehealth. HealthIT Topic The topic of telehealth was selected due to the impact on future practice. Telehealth has the ability to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered and provides for advancing technology. For years nursing has used forms of primitive telehealth, such as telephones and letters to communicate and corridinate care and with the advent of the computer and video there is a unparrelled ability to provide nursing care to all in need (Rutledge et al., 2017). According to Sweeney there has been an increase from 34% to 50% of insurance executives over 4 years that are stating that they will be implementing and growing current telehealth programs within their companies (2017). Growth that big in telemedicine is a hot issue that will affect nursing practice in many ways. Telehealth can provide lower cost healthcare to patients as well as give patients easier access to providers (Rutledge et al., 2017). According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the use of telehealth will be a cost-effective alternative to the traditional face-to-face patient consultation and can be used in areas where there is a lack of providers, such as in rural areas, or if travel is burdensome for the patient (M, n.d.). The terms telemedicine and telehealth have been used interchangeably. However, telemedicine is the part of telehealth that denotes the delivery of care by a provider and telehealth is the technology used in care delivery, health information, remote health and education (Rutledge et al., 2017). Telehealth allows for those of lower socioeconomic regions and debilitating health conditions to be seen at lower cost in a place they feel comfortable (Markwick, McConnochie & Wood, 2015). The use of nurses in telehealth will broaden current nursing services through professional knowledge, interpersonal skills, technical skills and use of electronic health records. Practice Impact Telehealth allows for nurses to use information technology skills to provide communication via technology in its various forms while still creating relationships, respecting dignity, compassion, and taking into account a patient socio-economic and cultural differences (Barbosa & Silva, 2017). With technology evolving, nursing has a need to evolve to the contemporary demand to integrate telehealth into practice. Nurses will need to become proficient in telehealth tool in order to provide efficient and effective care to patients. Attitude toward telehealth by many nurses may still be mixed but there the beniffits for both healthcare professionals and in patients exceeds the potential downfalls. The benefits of cost savings, access to providers, convenience, team-based care and improved care management can positively impact nursing practice through patient centered care (Markwick, McConnochie & Wood, 2015). Insurance companies are also working to implement laws that allow private insurance coverage of telemedicine services to equal the extent that they cover in-person services and have been successful getting reimbursement in at least 29 states in the US (Dorsey& Topol, 2016). The people in today’s world are so busy that making time to see a medical professional can be a daunting task. The advent of telehealth, and its growing popularity is a way to provide the convenience of a healthcare professional in the palm of their hand. Through the use of portable systems such as cellphones providers can receive real-time information from patient and adjust care based on this information, providing better patient outcomes (Barbosa & Silva, 2017). A recent study done with the elderly population illustrates some concerns about the importance of making sure to assess a patient’s readiness and ability to access health care via a computer or technical modality (Middlemass,Vos & Siriwardena, 2017). However, in that same study many of the elderly stated that they were willing to learn to use technology to get the care they needed in the comfort of home (Middlemass,Vos & Siriwardena, 2017). One of the benefits with telehealth is that it is more cost effective for the chronically sick and give the ability to providers to meet remotely with those that live in a rural area. Telehealth can connect these types of patients to advance practice nurses who can provide medication if needed. Telehealth can include the transmission of data and access to electronic medical records which can be used as a tool for consulting with other clinicians or specialists while remotely visiting a patient (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). Implementation in the office setting will also mean that there needs to be a Nurse Practitioner or Doctor available to respond to urgent clinical needs of the remote patients (Middlemass, Vos & Siriwardena, 2017). Telehealth has the potential to change workloads of practitioners when dealing with chronic care patients’ needs. Telehealth can affect patient outcome in the types of long term and short-term goals that are set as well as the patients understanding and compliance with these goals (Barbosa & Silva, 2017). Some risks associated with telehealth include: Reimbursement, legal, privacy, social concerns, and ethics or conflicts that each provider must consider when using telehealth. One drawback listed in the research was the lack of didactic education provided to Nurse Practitioners on using telehealth and the role it will play in practice (Markwick, McConnochie & Wood, 2015). Nurse practitioners are seen as needing better education in the modalities of telehealth as they will be using this in future practice. Depending on the type of telehealth used there can be concerns of missing nonverbal cues and the limited amount of interaction could make diagnosing considerably harder (Barbosa & Silva, 2017). While there is support from many insurance carriers to increase telehealth, many seniors are on Medicare which only allows for reimbursement of telehealth services in rural areas with a clinical shortage of providers (Dorsey & Topol, 2016). While this is changing, it is important for nursing to be aware of the laws in their area and the regulations for services provided via telehealth (Middlemass, Vos & Siriwardena, 2017). Informatics Skills and Knowledge The research for this paper required skills in information literacy, interpritation of research and previously acquired knowledge from nursing experience. In order to identify a topic for this paper computers were used to access the website where an article interesting to this nurse and relevant to current health trends was selected. Search engines were used like, Google Scholar and the library database through Chamberlin College of Nursing, to provide scholarly support of the topic. Literature was found and reviewed for relevance and implemented into the paper. Based on previous knowledge of computer systems and the use of Microsoft word processor, the paper was then formed. This assignment was completed using the research and skills in nursing informatics and computer based knowledge to provide a paper regarding current health care informatics topics. Conclusion Telehealth is an opportunity in nursing to provide care to the masses at lower cost and promote access to care for all types of patients. Despite obstacles that may be in the way, telehealth is the wave of the future in providing care as a Nurse Practitioner. In order for future Nurse Practitioners to become ready to integrate telehealth into practice, education curricula will have to be adapted to using experimental telehealth (Rutledge et al., 2017). It would also be important for a Nurse Practitioner to understand the laws, regulation, and requirements to practice in telehealth (Middlemass, Vos & Siriwardena, 2017). Telehealth can lead to new roles that would be fittingly filled by Nurse Practitioners and would provide for improved patient outcomes. Many laws are changing to accommodate reimbursement in telehealth and nurses will be integral in giving support to this emerging field. Telehealth will ultimately provide flexibility to both patients and professional nurses and will require nurse to have a greater education in nursing informatics to provide the skills necessary to use telehealthcare tools. As a current student in school for Family Nurse Practitioner, it is important to incorporate telehealth in to schooling and future practice. There is much knowledge that was gained in the process of creating this paper about future practice and the impact that information technology has in nursing and patient care. The use of telehealth will give Family Nurse Practitioners a new filed that integrates traditional nursing care and information technology into something amazing. References Barbosa, I. D. A., & Silva, M. J. P. D. (2017). Nursing care by telehealth: What is the Influence of Distance on Communication?. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 70(5), 928-934. doi:10.1590/ Dorsey, E. R., & Topol, E. J. (2016). State of telehealth. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(2), 154-161. doi:10.1056/NEJMra Markwick, L., McConnochie, K., & Wood, N. (2015). Expanding Telemedicine to Include Primary Care for the Urban Adult. Journal Of Health Care For The Poor & Underserved, 26(3), 771. doi:10.1353/hpu.2015.0078 M. (n.d.). Telemedicine. Retrieved from