NURS 6051 Healthcare Information Technology Trends

NURS 6051 Healthcare Information Technology Trends

HEALTHCARE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TRENDS NURS 6051

There is absolutely no disagreement that technology has had an array of advancements over the past years. Within the past decade there has been advancement throughout electronic health records, telemedicine/telehealth, self-service kiosks, wearable technology, and health tracking devices (Becker’s Healthcare, 2015).

The biggest change and trend that I most recently experienced is the constant use of telehealth/e-visits, Skype, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth is the use of technology to deliver health care, health information, or health education at a distance (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). A few ways telehealth is used in the clinical setting are sharing images amongst disciplines for assessment and diagnosis, transmit data, provide disease prevention information and promote good health while using real time video and phone services (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018).

The use of all of these new trends have definitely become the “new normal”. Meetings are now virtual to permit social distancing and many visits and consultations are through the telephone. A challenge of the virtual meetings could be employee engagement and employees actually paying attention to all being said throughout the meetings. As for telehealth services and e-visits, I worry of the challenge that patients can be wrongly diagnosed and improperly assessed during their verbal only visits.

As professionals we rely on our assessment skills to care for patients. Although our care has a great amount to do with what the patients tell us, we also use our skills of visually examining and touching patients to make the most accurate diagnosis and provide the best care for symptoms. Patient bills are also the same as an in-person visit, for a phone call that is sometimes only five minutes.

The biggest benefit of this virtual trend is safety amongst health care professionals and patients. Also, it could benefit providers to limit non-emergent in person visits to avoid possible exposures. As far as possible risks, patient information can possibly be compromised, and higher security must be used so information remains protected. Since private in-person rooms are not available it is still recommended by the Department of Health and Human Services to use private locations and patient should not receive services in public or semi-public settings (Jacobson, 2020). Throughout the pandemic there were also many cases of hacking into Zoom and Skype meetings. Providers must do all they can to avoid these data breeches to protect patient information.

Telehealth and e-visits do show advancements for nursing practice as it opens more career opportunity. “Telehealth eases the impact of the nursing shortage because it provides easier access to professionals for patients” (Teladoc Health, n.d. para # 5.) According to the American Telemedicine Association, within five years, 50% of healthcare services might be provided by telehealth services (Teladoc Health, n.d.). Along with career advancements, this will allow nurses to increase their assessment skills and critical thinking with the need of accurately finding treatment for patients.  With time and growth in this particular area, I think there will be growth in this area and providers will accurately provide care for patients. With continued time, I also think there will be improvements to data management and protecting patient information.

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References

Becker’s Healthcare. (2015). 10 biggest technological advancements for healthcare in the last decade. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/10-biggest-technological-advancements-for-healthcare-in-the-last-decade.html

Jacabson, A. (2020). The benefits and risks of telehealth services. Risk Management Magazine. http://www.rmmagazine.com/

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

Teladoc Health. (n.d.). How telehealth can ease the nationwide nursing shortage. https://intouchhealth.com/nationwide-nursing-shortage-eased-with-telehealth-services/#:~:text=Telehealth%20eases%20the%20impact%20of,so%20efficiency%20is%20markedly%20improved.

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This is insightful Solange. Technology has led to the quality improvement in the healthcare system. Today, most healthcare institution use technology to facilitate surgical processes, maintenance of patient’s data and enhance general patient admission processes. Technology has had an array of advancement in the last few decades (Khezr, Moniruzzaman, Yassine, & Benlamri, 2019). In other words, in the last decade, healthcare institutions have been able to incorporate electronic health records into the operational processes; this has led to the effective management of data and the security of the patient’s information.

The development of telemedicine has facilitated access to the healthcare systems for the individuals living in both rural and urban settings. Also, the application of telemedicine in the delivery of healthcare services has given rise to the self-services kiosks, development if the healthcare tracking devices and the artificial intelligence to promote the delivery of quality care. The application of technology in the healthcare processes has led to the increased safety and the speed in the healthcare delivery processes (Morilla et al., 2017). In other words, the technology has eliminated human errors that often lead to complexity in the healthcare delivery processes. Today, most organizations are involved in the use of technology to increase productivity and enhance accuracy in the operational processes.

Virtual trend is another technological innovation that is currently being incorporated in the healthcare processes. The biggest benefit of this virtual trend is safety amongst health care professionals and patients. The technology also continues to benefit healthcare providers as it leads to the reduction in the healthcare acquired infections. As far as possible risks, patient information can possibly be compromised, and higher security must be used so information remains protected. Healthcare organizations should therefore incorporate different technological products to facilitate healthcare delivery processes.

References

Khezr, S., Moniruzzaman, M., Yassine, A., & Benlamri, R. (2019). Blockchain technology in healthcare: A comprehensive review and directions for future research. Applied sciences, 9(9), 1736. Retrieved from: 10.3390/app9091736

Morilla, M. D. R., Sans, M., Casasa, A., & Giménez, N. (2017). Implementing technology in healthcare: insights from physicians. BMC medical informatics and decision making, 17(1), 92. Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12911-017-0489-2

RE: Discussion – Week 6

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Advancement in technology has simplified the way we do things; it saves time, increases production, and simplifies communication in our lives. As society’s demands and lifestyle change, the need for advancing technology we use is high. Almost everything we use has been innovated to better standards. Health care has harnessed this opportunity to improve the quality of care with the use of medical technological tools. Current trends are enabling self-patients of health conditions with the use of wearable fitness tracking devices, telemedicine to connect patients and health care providers from a long distance, cloud storage for ease of access on mobile devices, and smart equipment within the hospital.

Here at the facility where I am employed, the most advanced technology we offer our patients would have to be telehealth. Telehealth is defined as “the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration.” by The Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) (HealthIT.gov, 2017). Telehealth uses information and communication technologies to enables the diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management, and self-management of a patient’s health care while the patient is at the originating site and the health care provider is at a distant location. The technology simplifies patient self-management and caregiver support through the use of a laptop or smartphone app, rising the productivity of patient care. In my  facility, we use the Epic system for charting and communication, and a feature we bargain is the use of a health portal called ‘MyChart’ where labs, medications, personalized care plan, educational information, and interact with their physicians can  be reviewed.  Another feature that serves  24/7 access line where nurses have the ability to distantly watch cardiac monitors while the patient at home and alert the patient and physicians  advice on certain things such as  medication, abnormal lab callbacks, or when to seek treatment, and connect them with an on-call physician over the phone or app. Nurses and healthcare workers are up to date on these up-to-date technologies  use at their facility to reply any questions and clarify  to their patients.

Telehealth’s influence on nursing focuses on patients’ care either long-term wellness care , self-management, and on their current health condition. Nurses have the capacity to deliver necessary information to patients during a time of need, especially in rural areas. I believe that the impact on nursing practice is positive  through assessment, planning, interventions, and evaluations of the outcomes in patient care on a level outside of the hospital. Telehealth aids to incorporate better access to healthcare, cost reduction, and preventing unnecessary visits to urgent care or to the ER. A possible risk connected with telehealth is about having possibility of violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) in data safety and legislation. Health information is not always secure when stored on patients’ mobile devices, iPad or even on their laptop and the patient’s health record or login information could be hacked or stolen. Therefore, HIPAA training for nurses precisely towards telehealth practices is essential to keep patient’s health information safe and secure. Acceptable security and privacy protections for underlying telehealth data and systems must be provided for providers and patients to provide confidence in the use of telehealth solutions (Hall & McGraw, 2014).

In my opinion, The Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) trend that includes ECG monitors, mobile apps, fitness

trackers, and smart sensors can measure biological metric data; such as blood pressure, pulse, heart rate, glucose

level, and more and set reminders for patients is the most promising in healthcare’s future (Iqbail, 2019). With the

use of affordable health monitoring devices, patients can achieve their health better . IoMT can precisely capture and

manage data in real-time and use that data analytically to identify these trends. It develops patient results by

improving the patient’s knowledge of their own health information and can be studied by health professionals. IoMT

can help physicians manage patient’s data quickly by identifying more-accurate diagnosis increasing a more-

efficient delivery of care that is cost effective.

References

HealthIT.gov. (2017, September 22 ). What is telehealth? How is telehealth different from telemedicine?. Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/faq/what-telehealth-how-telehealth-different-telemedicine

Hall, J., & McGraw, D. (2014). For telehealth to succeed, privacy and security risks must be identified and addressed. Health Affairs, 33(2). https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0997

Iqbail, S. (2019, February 13). IoMT and big data: How the internet of medical things impacts clinical trials. Clinical Trials Innovation. Retrieved from https://knect365.com/clinical-trials-innovation/article/5024ec64-030e-4ba6-bc2b-c701a28b2b95/big-data-and-iomt-the-impact-of-the-internet-of-medical-things-on-clinical-trials

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.

 ReplyReply to Comment

Indeed most healthcare organizations are shifting from paperwork to electronic health records and electronic medical records. Electronic medical records to document medication dosages, administration, and other treatments help nurses avoid medical errors and confusion during practice. The electronic systems keep the patient information safe and confidential. Patient safety is also increased due to minimal errors during treatment and care management. I am sure there are organizations using cradle for recording patient information and this has improved nursing care and reduced medical errors because there is no misleading information about drug administration and care planning (Agbo et al., 2019).

Communication has also been enhanced by applying new technology. Clinicians are not being trained fast enough to keep pace with the rate of service demand. In addition, given the rising cost of care, new models for reimbursing hospitals and other providers have begun to emphasize quality and efficiency rather than units of delivered services.

Reference

Agbo, C. C., Mahmoud, Q. H., & Eklund, J. M. (2019). Blockchain technology in healthcare: a systematic review. In Healthcare (Vol. 7, No. 2, p. 56). Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

I agree with you that the use of electronic health records (EHRs) is critical in the current healthcare dispensation as it offers various benefits to patients and providers. EHRs allow seamless flow of patient health information from one provider to another and ensures correct and accurate data for effective decision-making and development of care plans. As you note, the use of EHRs solves a host of issues like delays in information sending from one facility and provider to another and minimizes paper work that is prone to human errors and mistakes (Lee & Yoon, 2021). EHRs offer complete and up-to-date patient health information for effective actions and decisions to improve care and this enables better diagnosis and fast treatment as well as enhanced communication (Rutledge & Gustin, 2021).

However, as you note, all technologies have their disadvantages that require effective actions and measures. For instance, data security, confidentiality and privacy are not just legal but also ethical aspects that impact the use of EHRs in healthcare systems. Furthermore, data breaches are always a concern and this implores organizations to have safety and security measures to mitigate such occurrences (Mayer et al., 2019). The implication is that organizations should have robust security protocols on access to such data and information.

Again, the use of telehealth as a promising technology cannot be overemphasized because of the benefits that it provides. Other technologies like artificial intelligence, mobile apps and texting as well as machine learning also promise to enhance care delivery and improve access to healthcare services for patients and health promotion for different populations. Artificial intelligence allows for fast diagnosis and ensures that providers make better decisions while mobile apps enhance telehealth and telemedicine to improve overall access and quality of care offered (Mishra et al., 2022). While these technologies offer certain benefits, they also have certain risks that providers should mitigate.

References

Lee, D., & Yoon, S. N. (2021). Application of artificial intelligence-based technologies in the

healthcare industry: Opportunities and challenges. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1), 271. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010271

Mayer, M. A., Blanco, O. R., & Torrejon, A. (2019). Use of health apps by nurses for

professional purposes: Web-based survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research mHealth and uHealth, 7(11), e15195. https://doi.org/10.2196/15195

Mishra, S., Dhuna, N., Lancki, N., Yeh, C., & Larson, D. N. (2022). Telehealth utilization and

patient satisfaction in an ambulatory movement disorders center during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 1357633X221146819. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X221146819

Rutledge, C. M., & Gustin, T. (2021). Preparing nurses for roles in telehealth: Now is the time.

The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 26(1). DOI: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol26No01Man03

More often than not, healthcare facilities utilize an electronic health record (EMR) system. An EHR, as defined by Healthit.gov, is “s a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. While an EHR does contain patients’ medical and treatment histories, an EHR system is built to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can include a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs are a vital part of health IT” (Healthit, 2023)

My organization utilizes EPIC, an EHR used in various facilities and healthcare systems. The EPIC site describes the system as “a glorious recounting of a nation’s events. Like the Iliad or the Odyssey, our electronic health records chronicle the story of a patient’s healthcare over time” (EPIC, 2023). The system is a significant data entity that organizes most of the patient’s health care information.

Even though it is a trend to utilize the EPIC system in many different facilities allowing different organizations to see care administered across different hospitals and healthcare organizations, maintaining patient privacy, and ensuring the HIPPA act’s regulation is consistent is a massive challenge. I have noticed that when patients check in, they immediately provide them with HIPPA act information that they read and sign electronically before even going to the waiting room. The consent form is immediately uploaded into the patient’s chart. It acknowledges that the patient knows their health information can be shared across different health systems in my local area. I wish that every patient reads what they sign. However, they quickly discover that when the provider comes in and tells the patient, “I saw you were at several facilities for pain control over the past two days,”; the patients get a shocked look on their face, especially if they are seeking narcotics. I like to explain to the patient after the provider leaves, and they ask how they know. I inform them that when they come in, they sign a consent form stating, “HIPAA requires most doctors, nurses, hospitals, nursing homes, and other health care providers to protect the privacy of your health information. However, if you do not object, a health care provider or health plan may share relevant information with family members or friends involved in your health care or payment for your health care in certain circumstances” (Health and Human Services (HHS), 2023).

The most promising health informatic trend is using mobile devices in particular units that allow healthcare providers and patients to function more and not be glued to a desktop computer. The patient can see their health care results in real-time by signing up with a mobile phone application. In an article provided by the University of Colorado, 59% of patients utilize a mobile device to seek medical information, and 46% of providers can manage a patient condition and compliance (Skiba, 2017, p. 2)

I think healthcare facilities with mobile applications will streamline the process of healthcare. Patients can message providers right from their phones, and the providers can respond immediately via provider notification. Moreover, many mobile devices integrate wearable technology that collects health data from heart rate and irregularities to sleep patterns and even the number of daily steps. All that information can be connected to the application. Providers and patients can track their health practices, improve their involvement in their health care plan, and keep all involved in the health process cognizant of improving and maintaining positive care.

Thank you Anupa for your discussion response and I agree with you that the use of electronic health records (EHRs) is critical in the current healthcare dispensation as it offers various benefits to patients and providers. EHRs allow seamless flow of patient health information from one provider to another and ensures correct and accurate data for effective decision-making and development of care plans. As you note, the use of EHRs solves a host of issues like delays in information sending from one facility and provider to another and minimizes paper work that is prone to human errors and mistakes (Lee & Yoon, 2021). EHRs offer complete and up-to-date patient health information for effective actions and decisions to improve care and this enables better diagnosis and fast treatment as well as enhanced communication (Rutledge & Gustin, 2021).

However, as you note, all technologies have their disadvantages that require effective actions and measures. For instance, data security, confidentiality and privacy are not just legal but also ethical aspects that impact the use of EHRs in healthcare systems. Furthermore, data breaches are always a concern and this implores organizations to have safety and security measures to mitigate such occurrences (Mayer et al., 2019). The implication is that organizations should have robust security protocols on access to such d