Week 6: Using Information Technology to Improve Population Outcomes

Using Information Technology to Improve Population Outcomes

At the end of the week, the student will be able to:

• Identify the pros and cons of internet use for health information.
• Identify available and appropriate E-resources.

  Sample week 6  Assignment 

  I feel the function of telehealth has never been more important than it is today. Without telehealth access to providers, information, and resources would currently be unavailable or much delayed. Due to the recent coronavirus pandemic, all non-essential facilities (including doctor specialties, elective surgeries, dental offices, chiropractic offices, among many others) have been closed for business of any close contacts. Personally, my PCP office has been shut down for in person contacts, but have remained available through telehealth, patient portals, and online resources.

           Although I have no current experience contributing to online resource information, I feel this will soon become a role of mine in the future. Last week, four of the MD’s from my workplace did a live youtube webinar on coronavirus information. Webinars are one way to provide educational telemedicine. The goal of this was to give the most up to date facts (per CDC), along with recommendations for staying healthy and boosting the immune system, supplementing (high dose vitamin C and zinc), proper diet (avoiding sugars), as well as answering questions from the viewers. It was a great way to see them address population health! With that said, I do have experience with telehealth visits, as my practice utilized these even before the coronavirus outbreak. Since the outbreak, the practice as a whole has been working remotely from home. Our amount of telehealth visits has increased dramatically, seeing all patients who agree. Some prefer for face to face visits, and rescheduled for future months. However, Nelson and Staggers (2018) notes, “provider-patient encounters via telehealth were examined and found to be as effective as standard face-to-face visits held in a provider’s office or clinic” (p. 137). Additionally, my practice now conducts our weekly clinical rounds via zoom meetings. I think the practice of social distancing has showed the many benefits and vast importance of telehealth medicine.

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          Within the future, more technology will be introduced to manage patient populations (Cupp Curley, 2020). Additionally telehealth could address population health by a multitude of means. Any of the telehealth specialty areas could be used, depending on which population you are trying to reach. Many specialty areas have already been successfully developed and implemented in a variety of healthcare settings. Such areas include telecardiology, teledentistry, teledermatology, home telehealth and remote monitoring, teleICU, telemental health, teleopthalmology, telepediatrics, teleradiololy, telestroke, telewoundcare, and teletrauma (Nelson & Staggers, 2018). There are many e-resources that support population-based nursing. Cupp Curley (2020), lists many resources in table 6.2, page 151. Some of the resources I am familiar with and use often include Center for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), The National Institutes of Health (www.nih.gov), US Department of Health and Human Services (www.hhs.gov), American Nurses Association (www.nursingworld.org), American Heart Association (www.heart.org), World Health Organization (www.who.int), Medscape (www.medscape.com), among many others. I believe telehealth medicine is extremely important, however I hope it doesn’t replace in person interactions all together.

References

Cupp Curley, A. L. (2020). Population-Based nursing concepts and competencies for advanced practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co.

Nelson, R., & Staggers, N. (2018). Health informatics: An interprofessional approach. (2nd ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.