AssessingtheProblem-TechnologyCareCoordinationandCommunityResources3assessment4900.docx
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Assessment 3
Assessing the Problem: Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources
Assessing the Problem: Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources
Part 1
Impact of Healthcare Technology
The healthcare issue focused on in this assessment is hypertension, with comorbidities of this condition, such as coronary artery disease. Telemonitoring, which is a subcategory of telehealth, has been selected as the healthcare technology to tackle this health problem. Telemonitoring involves the use of electronic equipment to check indicators such as blood pressure and pulse of the patients, which enhances access to health and facilitates the frequent tracking of patient data. Studies show that telemonitoring assists patients with hypertension, diabetes medicine, and stroke to manage conditions without constant hospitalization. In hypertensive patients, telemonitoring provides healthcare providers a way to monitor their patient’s blood pressure and possible signs of progression of disease, which may help prevent exacerbations that require emergency hospitalization. This approach may also help patients stay compliant with lifestyle alterations because constant surveillance enhances compliance with necessary health recommendations (da Fonseca et al., 2021).
Advantages and Disadvantages
A positive aspect of telemonitoring in hypertension care is that patients may have difficulties attending regular follow can easily attend follow-up sessions online (Snoswell et al., 2020). Telemonitoring is also an economically efficient way as there is no need for travel or several visits, which may be burdening patients financially. Third, more formalized data collection allows for developing healthy trust-based relationships as patients may receive guidance at the right time based on real-time data (Berger et al., 2020). Nevertheless, underlying issues of telemonitoring include fewer physical assessments, which might be important in diagnosing some hypertension symptoms or complications. To address this, there is potential for utilizing reliable devices that would enable the patient to measure vitals successfully in the comforts of their home.
Barriers
There are potential challenges that may affect the effectiveness of telemonitoring. Another major issue is the relative unpredictability of the connectivity in rural or remote areas, which greatly reduces the likelihood of effective telemonitoring. Furthermore, patients of older age face challenges in the use of technology such as telemonitoring devices. Those patients who have low health literacy may also be unable to understand their data or the meaning of the data as well. In relation to this, healthcare providers can provide training on how to use the devices and involve family members in the process.
Care Coordination and Community Resources
Interprofessional care management and coordination are required to address the needs of patients with chronic diseases such as hypertension in delivering appropriate treatment. Working together, healthcare experts can treat multiple issues at once, such as coronary artery disease and post-stroke disability, which are common comorbidities in hypertensive patients (Pathak et al., 2018). This approach assists in the reduction of time taken to make decisions, especially in such complicated cases. Community resources that allow patients to learn more about their condition are important. In terms of hypertension, organizations such as the American Heart Association and the National Heart Lung Blood Institute offer essential information and education on the disease. Such information may help increase patient’s engagement with personal care plans and choices made concerning their lifestyle and treatment plans. Professionals working in the healthcare field should also encourage patients to seek community support in order to increase their knowledge of the disease and maintain adherence to the medication regimen.
Barriers to Care Coordination and Community Resource Access
Coordination barriers may include ineffective interaction among members of the care team and may result in decisions that do not support their patients’ care needs. Furthermore, a greater number of patients may hamper coordination because important communication between individuals in a team may get delayed. However, understanding the limited available resources can be a problem for patients who may not know about these resources, and, therefore, their non-availability can also hamper the efficient utilization of available support. Lack of insight regarding hypertension means that patients may not be compliant when it comes to following their doctor’s recommendations and hence be at a higher risk of having poor health.
Policies Related to Healthcare Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources
Most healthcare policies such as the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have laid down principles that need to be followed with regard to technology uses, care coordination and recommending community resources. For example, the ACA’s goals of expanding affordability and attainability, particularly for lower-income patients, make healthcare financially sustainable (McIntyre et al., 2019). Regarding the patients who have difficulties related to socioeconomic status, ACA and CMS help guarantee affordable service, making the burden of costs more tolerable. Telemonitoring requires patient information to be disclosed electronically. Hence, HIPAA safeguards patient data, promoting patient confidence in the system. This makes patients more inclined towards telemonitoring technology because they are assured their data is safe.
Effect of Policies on Nursing Practice
Policies like ACA, CMS, and HIPAA have an effect on the approaches used in nursing practice, especially the patient-centered approach. The nurses are under a duty to offer services to the patients regardless of their ability to pay. They also have the responsibility to help patients in seeking services through the provisions of the ACA. Knowledge of these policies allows the nurse to refer the patient to the appropriate resources for socioeconomic needs, increasing the availability and effective quality of care. The legal requirement for data security embedded in the HIPAA makes a nurse consider the patient’s privacy in telehealth circumstances. This accountability improves the nurse-patient relationship since trust is one of the most critical aspects that define telemonitoring in hypertension maintenance.
Nursing Ethics in Addressing the Problem
The code of ethics in nursing states that the welfare of patients must always be considered paramount in the delivery of health care. Nurses can advocate for the patient and guarantee holistic care by all caregivers. In the case of patients with complicated health conditions, nurses are committed to ethical practices, practicing Autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence, hence the patients undergo patient-centered care which is in agreement with their health needs.
Part 2
Report on Practicum Session
Meeting the Patient and Expert
While conducting a practicum session with one of my patients, Mr. J.S., I realized that the major problem that was affecting the quality of care received by this patient was the lack of communication between him and his healthcare providers. Being a patient with multiple conditions, he was somewhat foggy on certain aspects and did not have a clear understanding of his risk factors and overall treatment plan. It brought about the need for better communication and easier means of getting information on his health troubles. My communication with Mr. J.S. allowed me to realize how teamwork must provide coordination for involving all members of the interdisciplinary team and give value to patient-centered communication for effective treatment plan implementation.
Evidence-Based Practice Review
Research evidence reveals that the use of telemonitoring in chronic diseases improved patient compliance and decreased emergency room admissions (Creber et al., 2023). Based on the literature, the results of telehealth programs established that the frequency of hypertensive patients’ admissions to the hospital can decline because hypertensive patients can monitor their blood pressure and consult their healthcare providers if necessary through telecommunication technologies (Casariego et al., 2021). Telemonitoring helps in the provision of constant care by frequently educating and, therefore, engaging the patient in the management of their disease (Shawwa, 2023). Policies like the ACA and CMS also support these patients by allowing them to get service at a low cost, thereby increasing follow-up clinic visits (McIntyre et al., 2019).
Plan to Address the Problem
Regarding the care plan for Mr. J.S., community awareness programs, and seminars need to be arranged to inform patients of hypertension causal factors, triggers, and lifestyle changes. Such sessions may entail an update on telemonitoring and how to use it, which has been highlighted to assist patients in adhering more to recommended treatment while sparing them numerous hospital visits. As for the financial issues, healthcare providers can explain Medicare, Medicaid, and the ACA to patients, which reduces costs and makes the patients seek health services. Moreover, patients could use community resources for dieting and other relevant support resources, including programs aimed at physical activity for heart patients.
Surprising Insights and Areas of Interest
Patients can choose from several different telemonitoring instruments, which was perhaps the most shocking aspect of this experience. Such devices are not only useful in monitoring signs such as blood pressure but also allow the patient to manage the disorder independently at home. Through telemonitoring apps, patients can input their blood pressure and compliance with medications, which are visible to the healthcare givers off-facilities. It also stores records on patients’ health conditions, such as laboratory results and medication schedules, increasing patient compliance with the recommended dosage and, therefore, reducing the risk of undesired outcomes.
Conclusion
Effectively managing hypertension, specifically in patients seen with comorbidities such as Mr. J.S., requires the development of a holistic care plan that involves the use of technology and other resources and enhances care coordination. Telemonitoring is cost-effective and has numerous advantages since it delivers care that is easier to accomplish through face-to-face visits with healthcare providers. Integrated care delivery for the patient improves care coordination among caregivers from different fields; forms ensure comprehensive care of the patient, and community support helps the patient manage his/her health.
References
Berger, R., Bulmash, B., Drori, N., Ben-Assuli, O., & Herstein, R. (2020). The patient-physician relationship: an account of the physician’s perspective. Israel journal of health policy research, 9(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-020-00375-4
Casariego-Vales, E., Blanco-López, R., Rosón-Calvo, B., Suárez-Gil, R., Santos-Guerra, F., Dobao-Feijoo, M. J., Ares-Rico, R., Bal-Alvaredo, M., & On Behalf Of The Telea-Covid Lugo Comanagement Team (2021). Efficacy of Telemedicine and Telemonitoring in At-Home Monitoring of Patients with COVID-19. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 10(13), 2893. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10132893
Creber, A., Leo, D. G., Buckley, B. J. R., Chowdhury, M., Harrison, S. L., Isanejad, M., Lane, D. A., & TAILOR investigators (2023). Use of telemonitoring in patient self-management of chronic disease: a qualitative meta-synthesis. BMC cardiovascular disorders, 23(1), 469. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-023-03486-3
da Fonseca, M. H., Kovaleski, F., Picinin, C. T., Pedroso, B., & Rubbo, P. (2021). E-Health Practices and Technologies: A Systematic Review from 2014 to 2019. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 9(9), 1192. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091192
McIntyre, A., & Song, Z. (2019). The US Affordable Care Act: Reflections and directions at the close of a decade. PLoS medicine, 16(2), e1002752. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002752
Pathak, N., Tomolo, A., & Escoffery, C. (2018). Improving Team-Based Care Coordination Delivery and Documentation in the Health Record. Federal practitioner: for the health care professionals of the VA, DoD, and PHS, 35(10), 32–39.
Snoswell, C. L., Taylor, M. L., Comans, T. A., Smith, A. C., Gray, L. C., & Caffery, L. J. (2020). Determining if Telehealth Can Reduce Health System Costs: Scoping Review. Journal of medical Internet research, 22(10), e17298. https://doi.org/10.2196/17298
Shawwa L. (2023). The Use of Telemedicine in Medical Education and Patient Care. Cureus, 15(4), e37766. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.37766