NURS 6051 Healthcare Information Technology Trends

Health information technology is an important asset for reducing patient harm with the reduction of medication errors, easily access of computerized records and the elimination of poor penmanship in the medical record. (Alotaibi & Federico, 2017). Electronic health record systems has transformed transitioning from a paper based system to one that provides clinical data and information to assist providers in delivering high quality care. One trend that I have come to appreciate is the Computerized physician order entry system. COPE allows providers to enter orders for medications, laboratory test, and radiology imaging.

This health technology trend eliminates potentially dangerous medical errors caused by poor penmanship while aiding in making the process more efficient for pharmacy and nursing staff while alleviating the need to seek clarification or to solicit missing information from illegible or insufficient orders(Alotaibi & Federico, 2017). Another health care technology trend is the bar code administration system. This particular component aids in prevention medication administration errors. By ensuring each patient receives the right medication at the right time and offering clinical advisories when needed (Pearce & Whyte, 2018).

A few of the drawbacks that I’ve observed at our facility is the in ability to provide updates to our health information technology system in a timely manner, while paying for the ongoing of maintenance cost. The upgrades, maintenance of an electronic heath record, replacement of hardware, and ongoing training of training and support can be costly. An additional risk to health care technology is patient confidentiality related to the increasing amount of health information that is being exchanged. To aid in alleviating some of the concerns’ policymakers have provided measures to ensure safety while maintaining privacy of patient data.

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Telehealth has allowed the patients to become empowered while allow nursing professional the ability to create a new way of interacting with patients while providing care (Wu, 2021)

References

Alotaibi, Y. K., & Federico, F. (2017). The impact of health information technology on patient safety. Saudi Medical Journal, 38(12), 1173–1180. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2017.12.20631Links to an external site.

Anderson, J., Bouchacourt, L. M., Sussman, K. L., Bright, L. F., & Wilcox, G. B. (2022). Telehealth adoption during the covid-19 pandemic: A social media textual and network analysis. DIGITAL HEALTH, 8, 205520762210900. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076221090041Links to an external site.

Menachemi, N., & Collum. (2011). Benefits and drawbacks of electronic health record systems. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 47. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.2147/rmhp.s12985Links to an external site.

Pearce, R., & Whyte, I. (2018). Electronic medication management: Is it a silver bullet? Australian Prescriber, 41(2), 32–33. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.18773/austprescr.2018.012Links to an external site.

Wu, Y. (2021). Utilization of telehealth and the advancement of nursing informatics during covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Nursing Sciences, 8(4), 367–369. Links to an external site.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2021.09.004Links to an external site.

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Throughout history, technological advancements have appeared for one purpose before finding applications elsewhere that lead to spikes in its usage and development. The internet, for example, was originally developed to share research before becoming a staple of work and entertainment. But technology—new and repurposed—will undoubtedly continue to be a driver of healthcare information. Informaticists often stay tuned to trends to monitor what the next new technology will be or how the next new idea for applying existing technology can benefit outcomes.

In this Discussion, you will reflect on your healthcare organization’s use of technology and offer a technology trend you observe in your environment.

To Prepare:

Reflect on the Resources related to digital information tools and technologies.
Consider your healthcare organization’s use of healthcare technologies to manage and distribute information.
Reflect on current and potential future trends, such as use of social media and mobile applications/telehealth, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled asset tracking, or expert systems/artificial intelligence, and how they may impact nursing practice and healthcare delivery.

By Day 3 of Week 6

Post a brief description of general healthcare technology trends, particularly related to data/information you have observed in use in your healthcare organization or nursing practice. Describe any potential challenges or risks that may be inherent in the technologies associated with these trends you described. Then, describe at least one potential benefit and one potential risk associated with data safety, legislation, and patient care for the technologies you described. Next, explain which healthcare technology trends you believe are most promising for impacting healthcare technology in nursing practice and explain why. Describe whether this promise will contribute to improvements in patient care outcomes, efficiencies, or data management. Be specific and provide examples.

While working at my current healthcare organization, there have been a few healthcare changes that I have observed throughout my career. Before the pandemic, patient information was not transparent and easily accessible for healthcare providers and family members. Depending on your organization’s electric medical record program, the amount of documentation and how easy to navigate them can vary. With this fact, this area of the profession was considered very time-consuming and often left, the nurse is hugely stressed or will require to come on their off days or stay long shifts to finish their documentation. Since the pandemic, there have been gradual changes in healthcare organizations to help adapt to these changes. Some of the technologies I have observed being implemented in clinical settings are more in saving healthcare professionals time, allowing healthcare providers to be more focused on their work. Some of these changes concern the layout of the hospital. There has been increasing development of isolation rooms with negative pressure capabilities and efficient Covid screenings on patients on admission and before every procedure.

In addition, some of the changes made to these isolation rooms include the implementation of portable videos, Camera or Phones in the patient room so patients can reach the nurse or nursing station for any required needs or if the nurses need to communicate with individuals in the nursing station from the isolated room. Patients can easily communicate with their healthcare professionals by developing this form of communication. It also saves healthcare professionals the need to constantly go in and out of each patient’s room if isolated, limiting the spread of communicable illnesses.

Another healthcare change I have observed since the pandemic was using my chart, which is exclusively available to family members of patients admitted, and using portable phones and tables. During the pandemic, patients would often be severely ill. Due to the rising COVID-19 issue facing the nation and other countries, patients would often go months without seeing their family and, even worse, would not even know what is going on medically with their loved ones in the hospital. The only form of information they received was when they called the primary nurse taking care of their family, who was often too busy to give detailed updates.

The charting program allows family members to easily see what is happening with their loved ones in the palm of their hands. The potential risk to utilizing my chart is that much of the information is provided without a medical background. It may be challenging to understand the significance of the information, so reaching out to the nurse, our healthcare provider, may still be necessary.

In addition to the Mychart, family members who cannot physically access their loved ones, whether, for isolation reasons or distance reasons, many hospital facilities now use FaceTime on phones and tables for family members to use to communicate with loved ones. In addition, the same phones and tablets can be used medically to scan medications, take pictures of Medical incisions or wounds for documentation, and even document patient vitals. This technology helps save time regarding a nurse work shift and provides peace of mind to the patient going through their medical crisis and the worried family members.

By Day 6 of Week 6

Respond to at least two of your colleagues* on two different days, offering additional/alternative ideas regarding opportunities and risks related to the observations shared.

This is insightful Damber. Technological advancement has greatly simplified healthcare processes including surgical procedures and the management of patient data. Generally, technology saves times, increases the speed in the operational processes and enhance accuracy. In the healthcare system, the application of technology has eliminated human errors that often lead to further complications and longer hospital stay (Abu-Elezz et al., 2020). The application of technology in the healthcare system also simplifies the communication processes leading to the effective coordination among the healthcare professionals. With the advancement in the communication system, nurses, physicians, and other clinicians often find it easier to administer treatment processes and to ensure quality outcomes.

Technology is also essential in eliminating the healthcare problems associated with the low nurse to patient ratios. For instance, the application of artificial intelligence will greatly change the healthcare delivery processes. The technology will eliminate healthcare professionals in healthcare settings and establish accurate treatment outcomes. Technology continues to elevate healthcare delivery processes into better standards (Sadiku et al., 2018). One of the main technological product that is used in the healthcare system today is telehealth which is applied to reach patients in the remote places.

Telehealth is the application of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. The technology is important because it can reduce the cases of healthcare acquired infections and reduce the problems associated with nurse to patient ratios. Different healthcare organizations use technology in different ways. However, the main reason for the application of technology in the healthcare processes is to enhance efficiency and facilitate healthcare delivery processes.

Today, most healthcare organizations are consideration the use of advanced technology such as the machine learning and artificial intelligence to facilitate accuracy in the medical delivery processes. For example, the artificial intelligence can be used to undertake highly sensitive surgical processes.

References

Abu-Elezz, I., Hassan, A., Nazeemudeen, A., Househ, M., & Abd-Alrazaq, A. (2020). The benefits and threats of blockchain technology in healthcare: A scoping review. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 104246. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2020.104246

Sadiku, M. N., Eze, K. G., & Musa, S. M. (2018). Block chain technology in healthcare. Int. J. Adv. Sci. Res. Eng, 4(5), 154-159. Retrieved from: : http://dx.doi.org/10.7324/IJASRE.2018.32723

*Note: Throughout this program, your fellow students are referred to as colleagues.

Great post Serena!

I completely agree increased trends in utilization of smart phone health applications to improve patient-provider communication will continue to expand. These health applications benefit the patient experience. In the past it would take several days and a follow-up appointment for patients to receive their lab results. Patients are now notified immediately once their lab results have processed and have been posted by their provider. While working in home-healthcare I have witnessed patients communicating with their care team in real-time, improving their satisfaction in the care they are receiving.

These conversations are beneficial only if they are being updated to their charts to follow questions and concerns over time to ensure all issues are being addressed. To promote data sharing between software is being done efficiently, interoperability between software programs should be prioritized. McGonigle and Mastrian states, “EHR data must be formatted in a machine-readable manner to support exchange of information and data mining” (2022, p. 307, para. 3). Ensuring that the software that is being used to conduct these conversations between clinicians and patients communicates with the EHR will ensure that all data is being collected properly to ensure effective patient care.

Enhancing interoperability will require a team effort to solve a potentially big problem. “As interoperability requires the collaborative efforts of healthcare professionals, researchers, IT experts, data engineers, and politicians, it is important to make interoperability a prominent topic in medicine and healthcare” (Lehne et al., 2019, para. 25). As healthcare workers, we must ensure that the data we are collecting is being properly collected and stored to the patients EHR to promote patient-centered care.

Submission and Grading Information

Grading Criteria

To access your rubric:

Week 6 Discussion Rubric

Post by Day 3 and Respond by Day 6 of Week 6

To participate in this Discussion:

Week 6 Discussion

Module 4: Technologies Supporting Applied Practice and Optimal Patient Outcomes (Weeks 6-8)

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Informatics Tools and Technologies [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

Evaluate healthcare technology trends for data and information in nursing practice and healthcare delivery
Analyze challenges and risks inherent in healthcare technology
Analyze healthcare technology benefits and risks for data safety, legislation, and patient care
Evaluate healthcare technology impact on patient outcomes, efficiencies, and data management
Analyze research on the application of clinical systems to improve outcomes and efficiencies

Due By	Assignment
Week 6, Days 1–2	Read/Watch/Listen to the Learning Resources. Compose your initial Discussion post.
Week 6, Day 3	Post your initial Discussion post. Begin to compose your Assignment.
Week 6, Days 4-5	Review peer Discussion posts. Compose your peer Discussion responses. Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 6, Day 6	Post at least two peer Discussion responses on two different days (and not the same day as the initial post).
Week 6, Day 7	Wrap up Discussion.
Week 7, Days 1-7	Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 8, Days 1-6	Continue to compose your Assignment.
Week 8, Day 7	Deadline to submit your Assignment.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Chapter 14, “The Electronic Health Record and Clinical Informatics” (pp. 267–287)
Chapter 15, “Informatics Tools to Promote Patient Safety and Quality Outcomes” (pp. 293–317)
Chapter 16, “Patient Engagement and Connected Health” (pp. 323–338)
Chapter 17, “Using Informatics to Promote Community/Population Health” (pp. 341–355)
Chapter 18, “Telenursing and Remote Access Telehealth” (pp. 359–388)

Dykes, P. C., Rozenblum, R., Dalal, A., Massaro, A., Chang, F., Clements, M., Collins, S. …Bates, D. W. (2017). Prospective evaluation of a multifaceted intervention to improve outcomes in intensive care: The Promoting Respect and Ongoing Safety Through Patient Engagement Communication and Technology Study. Critical Care Medicine, 45(8), e806–e813. doi:10.1097/CCM.0000000000002449

HealthIT.gov. (2018c). What is an electronic health record (EHR)? Retrieved from

https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehr

Rao-Gupta, S., Kruger, D. Leak, L. D., Tieman, L. A., & Manworren, R. C. B. (2018). Leveraging interactive patient care technology to Improve pain management engagement. Pain Management Nursing, 19(3), 212–221.

Skiba, D. (2017). Evaluation tools to appraise social media and mobile applications. Informatics, 4(3), 32–40.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Public Health Informatics [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

Laureate Education (Producer). (2018). Electronic Records and Managing IT Change [Video file]. Baltimore, MD: Author.

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NURS 6051 Assignment: The Impact of Nursing Informatics on Patient Outcomes and Patient Care Efficiencies

NURS 6051 Discussion: Big Data Risks and Rewards

NURS 6051 Assignment: Literature Review: The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies

Discussion

A general healthcare technology trend related to information that I have observed in my nursing practice is the increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs). EHRs allow multiple healthcare providers to access and update a patient’s information digitally, as opposed to relying on locating or faxing over paper records (HealthIT.gov, 2018). When I worked in an outpatient office that did not use an EHR, I saw how this slowed down patient care. We wanted to avoid repeating tests a patient had already gotten and wanted to fully understand the patient’s history, but it could mean hours of waiting for the patient’s record to be faxed over from the other office.

Sometimes we would finally get a record, but a crucial page would be missing, or an important page would have handwriting from the provider that was barely legible, which further delayed patient care and could have caused patient harm. This shows how a benefit of EHRs is the improvement in patient care outcomes by giving providers complete and up-to-date information about their patients immediately. This allows more accurate diagnosis, quicker treatment, and the ability to communicate with other healthcare providers in the team.

EHRs help avoid many of the problems of paper records, but also come with their own set of risks. For example, security and confidentiality of patient information that is now visible by possibly hundreds of healthcare providers is a concern, as well as the risk of data loss or system outages. My current hospital uses an EHR, and the system shut down during shift change one Sunday morning.

This caused a lot of confusion and risk for patient harm, as we could not access the patient’s information needed to give report to the oncoming nurse, hand off critical medications, give medication, and more. There is also a risk of data breaches with EHRs, which could lead to patient information being disclosed without their consent to unauthorized parties. This risk can be mitigated by having strong security measures, such as two-factor authentication that my hospital uses, and regularly training staff on how to protect patient data (Abouelmehdi et al., 2018).

A healthcare technology trend that I believe is promising for impacting healthcare technology in nursing practice is telehealth. I believe it will help patient care outcomes and efficiencies. Telehealth allows healthcare providers to deliver care remotely, using video conferencing and other digital tools (Skiba, 2017). This is especially useful in areas that do not have nearby access to healthcare providers, such as rural or underserved areas. For patients that have chronic conditions or who cannot easily travel to a healthcare facility, telehealth is also valuable. During the beginning of the covid pandemic when social distancing was paramount for everyone’s safety, I met with my healthcare provider through telehealth.

A potential risk of telehealth is thinking that it is suitable for all types of care, as a physical exam is a key to diagnosing and treating most conditions; a provider may not be able to safely diagnose a condition with only a history and your description of your symptoms. Another risk is the quality of the technology being used, as a zoom meeting with choppy audio or internet outages will not allow you to have a productive telehealth visit. There is also a risk of a lack of confidentiality of patient data. However, overall, both EHRs and telehealth can improve patient care outcomes, efficiencies, and data management for nursing practice, as long as we consider the risks associated with these technologies and take steps to mitigate them.

References:

HealthIT.gov. (2018c). What is an electronic health record (EHR)? Retrieved from
https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehrLinks to an external site.

Abouelmehdi, K., Beni-Hessane, A. & Khaloufi, H. (2018) Big healthcare data: preserving security and privacy. J Big Data 5, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40537-017-0110-7Links to an external site.

Skiba, D. (2017). Evaluation tools to appraise social media and mobile applications Links to an external site.. Informatics, 4(3), 32–40.

Literature Review: The Use of Clinical Systems to Improve Outcomes and Efficiencies

Mobile technologies have largely been used to improve the care given to patients in the modern world. Mobile technologies provide patients and care givers the opportunity to interact on issues related to health. Mobile health technologies have been shown to provide options for low-cost and effective care for patient populations with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart failure and obesity. mHealth technology is one of the mobile health technologies that is used for the management of health problems such as smoking, obesity, heart disease and tuberculosis.

mHealth uses technologies such as applications that provide the needed health education messages for positive lifestyle and behavioral change in populations at risk of health problems. The use of mHealth technology has been shown to result in outcomes such as patient satisfaction, increased access to care and reduction in cost of care incurred by patients and healthcare providers. Therefore, this research paper examines the outcomes of using mHealth technologies in health.

Wang, Y., Xue, H., Huang, Y., Huang, L., & Zhang, D. (2017). A Systematic Review of Application and Effectiveness of mHealth Interventions for Obesity and Diabetes Treatment and Self-Management. Advances in Nutrition, 8(3), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.116.014100

mHealth technologies are effective when used in the management of diabetes and obesity. The above study investigated the effectiveness of mhealth interventions for diabetes and obesity treatment as well as self-management. The study was a systematic review of studies conducted in the past on the topic. The authors performed a comprehensive analysis of the interventional studies on mhealth use in treatment of obesity and diabetes and developed recommendations for future practice and research. The articles used in the study were obtained from PubMed database where the inclusion criteria included those that focused on the topic of the study and published between 2000 and 2016. The application of the developed inclusion and exclusion criteria led to 24 articles, which mhealth interventions that included text messaging, monitoring devices and applications running on smartphones. The primary outcomes of the investigation included weight loss and reduction or maintenance of blood glucose level.

The secondary outcomes of the investigation included behavioral changes, self-efficacy and acceptability of the use of mhealth programs. The analysis of data revealed that the use of mhealth technologies was associated with more than 50% improvement in weight, blood glucose, behavioral change, self-efficacy, and acceptability of use of the technology. The effects of the mhealth interventions were sustained over a long-term period, translating into the effective management of diabetes and obesity. The lesson learned from this article is that mhealth technologies are associated with significant benefits in use in chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. The technology also promotes self-management of these conditions as seen in the improvement in the self-efficacy and behavioral change of the participants. Therefore, mhealth should be incorporated into the management interventions for chronic illnesses in health.

Changizi, M., & Kaveh, M. H. (2017). Effectiveness of the mHealth technology in improvement of healthy behaviors in an elderly population—A systematic review. MHealth, 3. https://doi.org/10.21037/mhealth.2017.08.06

mHealth technologies can also be used to promote positive behavioral and lifestyle changes in the elderly population. The above study investigated the effectiveness of using mhealth technology to improve healthy behaviors in the elderly population. The authors conducted a systematic review using previously published studies. The articles that were used in the review were obtained from databases that included Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Embase and Science Direct. The authors used a pre-developed inclusion and exclusion criteria to select studies that were to be used in the investigation. The search performed on the above databases led to 12 studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the investigation. The analysis of data showed that the use of mhealth technology is associated with numerous benefits to the elderly populations.

The benefits included improvement in care, self-efficacy, self-management, and behavior promotion and medication adherence. The authors further found that the use of mhealth technology is effective for disease prevention, management of diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease and promoting lifestyle changes in the elderly populations. The above study is associated with the strength that it used a bigger number of articles to determine the effect of mhealth on the elderly populations. The authors also investigated the use of the technology in the vulnerable populations. It can be learnt from the study that the use of mhealth technology is effective for individuals of all ages. The technology improves the treatment outcomes, adherence and adoption of healthy lifestyles in the elderly populations. Consequently, healthcare providers, including nurses should educate the elderly populations on the use of different mhealth technologies in the management of their health problems.

Liu, H., Xiao, X., Lu, C.-M., Ling, D.-L., & Wei, R.-H. (2018). A systematic review of the effect of mobile health on cardiac rehabilitation among coronary heart disease patients. Frontiers of Nursing, 5(3), 217–226. https://doi.org/10.1515/fon-2018-0029

As noted in the above annotations, mhealth technology can be used to improve the treatment outcomes of patients with chronic conditions. The above study investigated the effect of using mhealth technologies on cardiac rehabilitation in patients with heart disease. The study was a systematic review of previous studies conducted to determine the effectiveness of mhealth technologies in patients with cardiac problems. The authors used articles that were obtained from performing a systematic search on databases that included NICE, Embase, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Medline, and Cochrane library. The researchers used mainly randomized controlled studies that were published between 2002 and 2017. The search led to eight articles that were used in the systematic review.

The analysis of data showed that the use of mhealth has positive impact on behaviors that included medicine adherence, engagement in physical activity and quality of life. However, the effect of mhealth on the level of anxiety and smoking cessation was inconsistent in studies. The authors therefore recommended studies that use large sample sizes to be conducted to provide conclusive evidence on the effect of mhealth technologies on patients on cardiac rehabilitation. It can be learned from this article that mhealth technologies have some benefits to patients with cardiac problems. The technology promotes healthy lifestyle and behavioral change that improves the outcomes of treatment in patients with cardiac health problems. Therefore, nurses and other healthcare providers should explore the possibilities of incorporating mhealth technologies into the treatment of cardiac-related health problems.

Xiong, S., Berkhouse, H., Schooler, M., Pu, W., Sun, A., Gong, E., & Yan, L. L. (2018). Effectiveness of mHealth interventions in improving medication adherence among people with hypertension: a systematic review. Current Hypertension Reports, 20(10), 86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11906-018-0886-7

The above study investigated the effectiveness of using mhealth interventions to improve adherence to medication in people with hypertension. The authors conducted a systematic review of the studies that have examined the effect of mhealth technologies on medication adherence in people with hypertension. The authors performed search on professional databases that included Web of Science, PubMed and Embase. The search yielded 21 studies that were included following the application of the developed inclusion and exclusion criteria. The studies used in the investigation were published between 2000 and 2017.

The results of the analysis showed that the use of mhealth technologies was associated with significant improvement in treatment adherence alongside blood pressure control in people with hypertension. The authors projected that the use of mhealth technologies had sustained benefits to patients with hypertension. Therefore, it can be learned from this study that mhealth can improve the treatment outcomes due to adherence in patients with hypertension. The improvement also enhances the control of blood pressure in these patients. Therefore, the use of mhealth should be incorporated into the self-management interventions used in the management of hypertension.

Conclusion

The above annotation has shown that mHealth technology is effective when used in healthcare. mHealth technologies provide the opportunities to reduce the cost of care incurred by the patients and health organizations. The analysis has also shown that mhealth technologies promote behavioral changes. The behavioral changes can be seen from the improved adherence to treatment and engagement in physical activity among patients with obesity, hypertension and diabetes. The analysis also showed that mhealth promotes the self-management of chronic health problems that include diabetes, hypertension and obesity.

mHealth has also be shown to improve the self-efficacy of patients with different health problems. The improvement in self-efficacy implies that the use of this technology in health has a high possibility of sustainability. In addition, the acceptability level of mhealth technology is significantly high. The high rate of acceptability implies that its utilization in health will result in enhanced outcomes of treatment for the patients. Healthcare providers including nurses should therefore consider incorporating mhealth technology into their plans of care. The technology will optimize the treatment outcomes for value-based care in health.

References

Wang, Y., Xue, H., Huang, Y., Huang, L., & Zhang, D. (2017). A systematic review of application and effectiveness of mHealth interventions for obesity and diabetes treatment and self-management. Advances in Nutrition, 8(3), 449–462. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.116.014100

Reply to Comment

Healthcare is an evolving field driven by innovative ideas, evidence-based practices to improve patient outcomes. The global pandemic COVID 19 significantly impacted the healthcare delivery system, facilities, and state governing agencies scrambled to implement work process, policies, and restrictions to provide safe, quality care to patients. Many organizations halted non-emergent visits and procedures and began utilizing telehealth services. In summary, telehealth is medical information transferred electronically to improve patients’ health and outcomes (Tuckson et al., 2017). The risk of exposure for patients and healthcare providers drastically decreased.

Besides, limiting exposures an unexpected benefit in my organization is that patients report a higher level of satisfaction with their providers. One patient informed me that previously they felt that their provider did not have their well-being in mind due to rushed visits. Now with telehealth visits, patients report they have more one-on-one time with their providers and receive a detailed assessment. Patients now have access to a nurse 24/7; speaking with a nurse can save funds that spent on an unnecessary ED visit (Mataxen & Webb, 2019).

Although telehealth provides benefits, challenges, and risks remain, such as coverage limitations. While commercial insurance carries cover and encourages telehealth, Medicaid guidelines do not cover the service (Tuckson et al., 2017). After my organization realized the impact COVID 19 on well-visits and preventive care, we scheduled a meeting with our state Medicaid agency. During the meeting, we discussed benchmarks at risk. The only solution we agreed upon was expanding telehealth coverage throughout the end of the global pandemic. By convincing Medicaid, to expand the coverage, we now have data to illustrate the benefits.

In my opinion, the most promising technology trend that positively influences nursing practice is telehealth. Nurses knowledgeable of telehealth aspects have greater accessibility to patients because triage takes place via phone versus having to schedule an appointment that may be weeks away (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). The trend may lower ED utilization and noncompliance based on the increased accessibility of patients to their healthcare team. Telehealth can reduce the Medicaid budget, improve patient outcomes, and improve the transferability of data.

Rubric Detail

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Content
Name: NURS_5051_Module04_Week06_Discussion_Rubric

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Excellent Good Fair Poor
Main Posting

Points Range: 45 (45%) – 50 (50%)

Answers all parts of the discussion question(s) expectations with reflective critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module and current credible sources.

Supported by at least three current, credible sources.

Written clearly and concisely with no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.

Points Range: 40 (40%) – 44 (44%)

Responds to the discussion question(s) and is reflective with critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

At least 75% of post has exceptional depth and breadth.

Supported by at least three credible sources.

Written clearly and concisely with one or no grammatical or spelling errors and fully adheres to current APA manual writing rules and style.

Points Range: 35 (35%) – 39 (39%)

Responds to some of the discussion question(s).

One or two criteria are not addressed or are superficially addressed.

Is somewhat lacking reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.

Somewhat represents knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

Post is cited with two credible sources.

Written somewhat concisely; may contain more than two spelling or grammatical errors.

Contains some APA formatting errors.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 34 (34%)

Does not respond to the discussion question(s) adequately.

Lacks depth or superficially addresses criteria.

Lacks reflection and critical analysis and synthesis.

Does not represent knowledge gained from the course readings for the module.

Contains only one or no credible sources.

Not written clearly or concisely.

Contains more than two spelling or grammatical errors.

Does not adhere to current APA manual writing rules and style.
Main Post: Timeliness
Points Range: 10 (10%) – 10 (10%)
Posts main post by day 3.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)
Does not post by day 3.
First Response

Points Range: 17 (17%) – 18 (18%)

Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.

Responds fully to questions posed by faculty.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.

Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 15 (15%) – 16 (16%)

Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 13 (13%) – 14 (14%)

Response is on topic and may have some depth.

Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.

Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 12 (12%)

Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.

Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are missing.

No credible sources are cited.
Second Response

Points Range: 16 (16%) – 17 (17%)

Response exhibits synthesis, critical thinking, and application to practice settings.

Responds fully to questions posed by faculty.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by at least two scholarly sources.

Demonstrates synthesis and understanding of learning objectives.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are fully answered, if posed.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 14 (14%) – 15 (15%)

Response exhibits critical thinking and application to practice settings.

Communication is professional and respectful to colleagues.

Responses to faculty questions are answered, if posed.

Provides clear, concise opinions and ideas that are supported by two or more credible sources.

Response is effectively written in standard, edited English.

Points Range: 12 (12%) – 13 (13%)

Response is on topic and may have some depth.

Responses posted in the discussion may lack effective professional communication.

Responses to faculty questions are somewhat answered, if posed.

Response may lack clear, concise opinions and ideas, and a few or no credible sources are cited.

Points Range: 0 (0%) – 11 (11%)

Response may not be on topic and lacks depth.

Responses posted in the discussion lack effective professional communication.

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Points Range: 5 (5%) – 5 (5%)

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Points Range: 0 (0%) – 0 (0%)

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Total Points: 100
Name: NURS_5051_Module04_Week06_Discussion_Rubric

Trends and Benefits One of the most significant trends in healthcare technology has been the implementation and use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs). EHRs are digital versions of a patient’s paper medical record that may contain information about the patient’s medical history, diagnosis, treatments, test results, and much more (HelathIT.gov, 2018c). The use of technology in the healthcare system has greatly improved and makes things easier and more accessible. The technology has made it easy, not only for diagnosis and treatment but also for data technology and information collection and data storage in the system. At my current hospital, the inpatient units do have an EHR system in place, and we also have a system called SharePoint, WaRMSS, and everybody can access it at once, without a problem. EHR, which has helped improve the workflow among interdisciplinary team members. Several clinicians have access to the patient’s chart at one time, which is often necessary for expediting care.

The majority of a healthcare organization has established the use of Electronic Health Record System. It is used to store records, data, and all patients’ medical information. This EHR makes things easier for both healthcare providers and patients. Technology makes a difference in our day-to-day activity for us too, not just for the healthcare organization. I had an encounter with the use of technology just a few days ago when my daughter had classic signs and symptoms of UTI. I was able to go through the hospital portal to make the same-day appointment to see her doctor via electronic visit. I was able to describe her symptoms and the doctor prescribe her antibiotic, which was delivered to my house the next day via the hospital pharmacy. It was so easy and fast because they already have her all information in the system.

Telemedicine, Telehealth, and Telenursing have been around since the late 1990s; however, the advancements in technology to improve patient care through videoconferencing, real-time consultations, and the use of remote monitoring to capture and transmit biometric data are positively affecting nursing practices in home-health and remote settings (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2017). Although the use of the HER system has mostly replaced the paper system, there is always a potential for data misuse or violation of privacy issues.

Organizations must take this risk seriously and implement rigorous rules and control mechanisms to ensure that personal health information is protected from potential data breaches (Wang et al., 2018). Password implementation, encryption, and other methods can help to reduce or eliminate risks.

The adoption of an EHR system has shown a great improvement because it saves time and organizes information in one location and is accessible to healthcare personnel as needed in providing care to patients. It also saves time for patients, because it eliminates re-entering their information, each time they have a visit/appointment. It has also shown that it reduces the amount of labor that healthcare practitioners have to do. I remember the days of paper charting, it was time-consuming, and it is hard to transcribe doctors’ written orders, which leads to many mistakes and near misses in providing care.

References:

Coventry, L., & Branley, D. (2018). Cybersecurity in healthcare: a narrative review of trends, threats and ways forward. Maturitas, 113, 48-52.

Dhawan, A. P. (2018). Editorial trends and challenges in the translation of point-of-care technologies in healthcare. IEEE Journal of translational engineering in Health and Medicine, 6, 1-8.

HealthIT.gov., (2018c). What is an electronic health record (EHR)?https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-electronic-health-record-ehrLinks to an external site.

HealthIT.gov., (2018c).Benefits of EHRs: An electronic health record (EHR) is more than a digital version of a patient’s paper chart.https://www.healthit.gov/topic/health-it-basics/benefits-ehrs

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2017).Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge(4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning

Wang, Y., Kung, L., & Byrd, T. A. (2018). Big data analytics: Understanding its capabilities and potential benefits for healthcare organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change,126, 3-13.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2015.12.019

Thanks for sharing your experience before Electronic Health Records (EHR). I had the same experience working at a nursing home when I first graduated. It was very time consuming to document on paper manually, and I would be at work for almost 2 hours extra after end of shift. Most of the nurses who had been working there for almost 15 to 20 years ,thought it was a tactic for me to get paid for extra hours. This led to many problems for me, fresh out of nursing school and having no guidance from the senior nurses. I took my time because it was my first time doing anything like that and I did not want to make any mistakes. That was many years ago, and I am so grateful EHR is available for nurses now, especially in bigger hospitals like the one I currently work at with the large amount of data we have to deal with.

With EHR, protecting patient privacy is important (Abouelmehdi et al., 2018).

Telehealth is promising just like you mentioned. Providing care remotely is something we saw a lot during Covid 19 (Skiba, 2017). For those who just need to see the doctor for some minor consultations or yearly checkups, this works perfectly. But for those who need the doctor to physically assess something on their body, this might not be ideal. Sometimes, the doctor needs to physically touch something or physically see it to make the right diagnosis as you mentioned as well.

References

Abouelmehdi, K., Beni-Hessane, A. & Khaloufi, H. (2018) Big healthcare data: preserving security and privacy. J Big Data 5, 1. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40537-017-0110-7Links to an external site.

Skiba, D. (2017). Evaluation tools to appraise social media and mobile applications Links to an external site.. Informatics, 4(3), 32–40