Health Information System Workflo

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Nov 24, 2024

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Health Information System Workflow and Innovation Evaluation of my Current Professional Practice Home hospice nursing, typically referred to as end-of-life care entails keeping a patient comfortable rather than offering the individual treatment which prolong their lives. Most hospice nurses are assigned to individuals that have fewer years left to live. Even though health information systems are widely used in healthcare, their dissemination has not entirely reached hospice and palliative care whose main emphasis is offering healthcare for people that are dying or terminally ill. Teter, Whitted & Vardaman (2021) explains that the main objective of palliative care is minimizing suffering and enhancing the quality of life of a patient at the end of life with the main focus on palliation instead of treating the terminal disease that the patient is suffering from. Therefore, in this professional practice, health information systems, informatics, and other technologies are not utilized as widely as they are in treating patients with chronic diseases. However, some facilities have adopted different technological tools to prolong the lives of these individuals and make the delivery of this form of healthcare easier. For instance, the application of telemedicine in hospice care might benefit a hospice and palliative institution by reducing the visit rates of patients to the emergency department and improving their clinical outcomes. Surfacing Technological Innovation Telemedicine is a telecommunication tool used to accelerate, promote, or create health services. Jafarzadeh et. al. (2022) defines telemedicine as the use of information technology and communication in healthcare to offer care without patient-doctor encounter (routine communication). This technological innovation is an advantageous technology which makes is easy for individuals to access preventative treatment and promote their long-term health. Haleem et. al. (2021) explains that this tool is mostly beneficial for individuals that face regional and

financial challenges while trying to access quality treatment. Telemedicine makes healthcare more available, organizes, and effective. For instance, telemonitoring a patient’s vital signs and telephone-based care have helped increase the quality of life, minimized the risk of hospitalization and mortality in home hospice nursing. Moreover, telemedicine has allowed patients receive healthcare services at their convenience since it does not require them to leave their other scheduled activities to access healthcare. A patient simply needs to make a phone call to their healthcare provider and be given advice on how to improve their health status without arranging for babysitting or cancelling their other appointments to access healthcare. The Workflow in Which Telemedicine Might be Implemented and Utilized into Practice Telemedicine can be implemented into different areas of practice. Even though information technology has not been used widely in home hospice nursing to the same degree as in other healthcare domains, the main areas in hospice settings that use telemedicine include mobile tools, web applications, and videoconferencing to support patients, their families, and the clinicians. Demiris, Oliver & Wittenberg-Lyles (2011) states that videophones are a practicable way of delivering problem-solving therapy (PST) to hospice nurses. This is because using only audio communication might not be effective in capturing non-verbal cues. Therefore, audio communication might be inefficient for an in-depth examination of a patient’s situation. Hence, telemedicine can be implemented into practice through videophones to minimize the cost of travelling to deliver or be given cognitive behavioral treatment interventions. The second way that telemedicine can be utilized into practice is through phone calls to renew or write prescriptions to a patient. It would be costly for either a patient or a clinical to travel to great lengths to renew prescriptions. Therefore, a healthcare provider could make a call to the patient or the patient’s family and discuss the patient’s health progress to determine if they should

continue with the prescription that was earlier given to them or whether they should be given another prescription for their health issues. Strengths and Weaknesses of Telemedicine in Assisting Patient Care Delivery The first primary strength of telemedicine is it helps lowers costs of accessing healthcare. Villines (2020) states that individuals that use telemedicine in patient care delivery spend less time in healthcare facilities hence saving on the costs that they would have paid for admission. Besides, when a patient accesses healthcare remotely, they experience fewer secondary expense due to less commuting time. Secondly, telemedicine improves access to healthcare. It makes it easier for patients with chronic illnesses and disabilities to access healthcare. Telemedicine also enhances access for populations such as incarcerated, geographically isolated, and older adults. Thirdly, telemedicine is convenient because it allows individuals to access care at the privacy and comfort of their homes. For instance, a person might not need to take days off from work to travel to a physical hospital. This ultimately increases patient satisfaction and the quality of care that they receive. However, telemedicine has different weaknesses. First, few health insurers provide health coverage for telemedicine. Villines (2020) claims that telemedicine also jeopardizes the safety of a patient’s medical information since cybercriminals and hackers might exploit weaknesses in an unencrypted channel or a public network and gain access to sensitive patient data. Telemedicine could also delay treatment when a patient demands emergency care since a health provider cannot perform laboratory tests electronically or even offer first aid to the patient. Moreover, telemedicine attracts licensing issues because state laws differ and health providers might not manage to practice across state borders based on the states that they have their license and the country that the patient that they are taking care of lives. It might also be difficult to find the

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appropriate digital platform to utilize and a weak connection of the digital systems makes it harder to access and give quality care. Advantages and Disadvantages of Health Information Systems Health information systems are advantageous because they allow for data centralization. This is achieved by keeping patient’s data centralized thus closing any geographical gaps that might prevent an individual from accessing patient files from a different location. Secondly, health information systems help increase efficiency because a patient’s health history can be accessed easily and time that would be spent waiting for a hard copy would be minimized. Besides, it eradicates clerical procedure such as laboratory results notifications and appointment reminders. Health information systems can also help achieve confidentiality and security. this is because they demand authentication to access any type of health data. There is some degree that health providers such as lab personnel and doctors could access data such as diagnostic test results. On the other hand, health information systems are disadvantageous due to high costs. This technology is pricy since most facilities require a customized and personalized system which adds extra costs in implementing them. There is also a hardware that is required to house the health information system and this would also increase the costs. Other costs that make health information systems costly are maintenance costs and costs required to train patients and the staff on how to sue them. Moreover, some individuals would be resistant to such changes and even after a facility spends money on training, they might refuse to use the system. The Impact of Technology on the Workflow of Patient Care The workflow of patient care has become manageable and easier due to technology. For instance, devices like health trackers, pacemakers have helped individuals track their health data

easily. When any health issues arise, a patient’s data is tracked through such devices and then shared to a medical care provider who could analyze the results and determine what is wrong with the patient so that they can them the proper health advice. Besides, modern technological equipment has also helped increase the life expectancy of people by allowing practitioner perform complex surgeries. All these applications of technology in healthcare have helped facilitate patient care workflow.

References Demiris, G., Oliver, D. P., & Wittenberg-Lyles, E. (2011, August). Technologies to support end- of-life care. In Seminars in oncology nursing (Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 211-217). WB Saunders. Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Singh, R. P., & Suman, R. (2021). Telemedicine for healthcare: Capabilities, features, barriers, and applications. Sensors International , 2, 100117. Jafarzadeh, F., Rahmani, F., Azadmehr, F., Falaki, M., & Nazari, M. (2022). Different applications of telemedicine-assessing the challenges, barriers, and opportunities-a narrative review. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care , 11 (3), 879. Teter, C. M., Whitted, K., & Vardaman, S. A. (2021). Reducing hospital visit rates in hospice patients using telemedicine. CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing , 39 (11), 682-688. Villines, Z. (2020). Telemedicine benefits: For patients and professionals. Medical News Today . https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/telemedicine-benefits

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