Introduction
Medical institutions need to implement new systems to maximize patients’ outcomes. Health managers can guide their followers to support every introduced change, solve their differences, and be part of the entire process. They can offer the right resources, guidelines, and training to improve service delivery and patients’ experiences. Modern technologies have the potential to transform care delivery processes, engage practitioners, and address existing gaps. This paper describes a new project aimed at increasing the quality of medical care available in the selected facility. The change entails the introduction of smartphone-based apps to coordinate the level of communication between patients and caregivers. The report outlines the unique issues that different stakeholders, leaders, and team members need to consider to ensure that positive results are recorded within the targeted period of two months.
Intended Change
In the selected hospital, many patients record positive health outcomes or are discharged within the outlined period. However, there are specific individuals who experience various challenges, such as falls, reduced attention or medical support, lack of guidelines, and medication errors (Calinici, 2017). These gaps expose the need for introducing modern technologies that resonate with the demands of the greatest number of patients. This project seeks to introduce smartphone-based apps to streamline communication between nurses or caregivers and the targeted beneficiaries and support problem-solving initiatives (Calinici, 2017).
The implemented technology will become a new opportunity to support decision-making, improve the nature of information sharing, and empower practitioners to provide timely support to their patients. The intended change will transform the medical practices in the working environment and ensure that more stakeholders are involved throughout the care delivery process.
Rationale
The increasing number of baby boomers will continue to be in need of medical support from practitioners who have adequate philosophies and competencies in geriatric care. However, the percentage of registered nurses (RNs) in the United States declined from 25.1 in the 1980s to around 9.1 in the year 2000 (Armmer, 2017). These statistics reveal that most of the American citizens in need of high-quality medical services might not be in a position to record positive gains or experiences. The mean rate for sentinel events in different hospitals across the United States is around 4.3 percent, including medication errors, falls, hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), and pressure ulcers (Armmer, 2017).
A study by Palasuberniam, Suliong, Thangiah, and D’Souza (2018) reported that over 77 percent of all errors observed in different medical facilities were controllable through the use of evidence-based approaches and strategies. In the recent past, many health experts have been keen to support the integration of emerging technologies and systems in different medical settings. Various innovations have become common in various hospitals due to their potential to maximize coordination and improve the speed of service delivery. Some of these technologies include decision support systems (DSSs), health information records (HIRs), data analytics, and telemedicine.
Health institutions that consider the power of these inventions and implement them tend to have increased chances of delivering high-quality medical services to their patients. The introduction of the proposed change is guided by the above statistics in an attempt to transform the situation and ensure that more patients in the selected hospital record desirable medical outcomes. The selected facility will rely on the presented smartphone app to transform care coordination, empower more practitioners, and eventually support the delivery of personalized services. The process will overcome the potential sentinel events that might emerge and maximize the experiences of the greatest number of patients.
Desired Outcomes
The intended change will create a new model whereby nurses, clinicians, and caregivers can use the implemented apps to monitor the progress of their patients and offer follow-up guidelines. More practitioners will not have to work overtime or move physically to different wards to provide information that could be shared via the new medical app (Campbell, 2017).
All professionals in the facility will be able to collaborate, identify emerging obstacles, and use evidence-based approaches to solve them. The leaders in the organization will examine how the app can support or transform care delivery and use the recorded observations to implement additional innovations and measures to improve nursing practice.
The proposed change will minimize the unique challenges associated with the problem of workforce shortage and the absence of adequate resources. The introduced project will improve the existing culture and empower more professionals to deliver personalized and culturally competent care. Most of the patients in the selected institution will receive the relevant competencies to understand how to use the implemented medical app. These beneficiaries will find it easier to liaise with their caregivers, communicate or share their experiences, and make inquires instantaneously.
Since practitioners will be relying on the power of modern technology, chances of supporting and providing personalized support to more individuals will increase significantly.
The new change will reduce the number of falls, HAIs, and medication errors in the facility and support the outlined mission and vision statements (Hassmiller & Reinhard, 2015). The quality patient experiences recorded in this hospital will increase and encourage more people to seek services from the facility. The number of individuals who have to stay in their respective wards due to sentinel events will reduce in this institution.
Audience
Several stakeholders are targeted for this change is it is to deliver the outlined goals and improve patients’ experiences.
First, the health leaders (HLs) in the facility will learn more about the project and how it has the potential to transform medical care delivery. Second, members of the community will get additional information about this project and its potential to support their health needs and expectations (Reed, 2017). Third, all medical professionals in the facility will be sensitized about the new app and the benefits they stand to get from it. Fourth, the team members will be part of the process and be informed about the major stages and procedures to undertake in order to make the change a reality. Fifth, it is appropriate to convince the human resources (HR) department to support the intended app since it will transform operations and make it possible for more people to complete their duties much faster. Sixth, the leaders in charge of the information technology (IT) department will need to learn more about the targeted app and how it will meet the demands of the other stakeholders. Seventh, some of the patients in the facility will receive additional information about the project and the benefits they stand to gain from the implemented change. Eighth, the hospitals and policymakers in the region will be informed and encouraged to consider how emerging apps have the potential to maximize patients’ experiences (Yang, Poly, & Li, 2019).
The consideration of these stakeholders will minimize the possible obstacles that might affect the implementation process. The approach will also guide other institutions to identify emerging technologies and innovations in the field of health care. The ultimate aim is to ensure that more patients in the selected community receive better services.
Benefits to the Institution
The identified hospital will record several benefits that will take it closer to its goals. The first one is that it will experience minimum cases of medication errors and HAIs that can affect the outlined objectives. The second advantage is that majority of the people, both inpatient and outpatient, visiting the facility will receive high-quality health support, thereby maximizing the level of recorded revenues (Miles & Scott, 2019). The third benefit is that the organization’s corporate image will improve since more people will be ready to be associated with its model (Murray, 2019). The fourth one is that a new culture will develop that can reduce the negative impacts emerging from the problems of the nursing shortage and the increasing number of patients in the country. The fifth advantage is that the facility will become a leading provider of personalized, timely, and high-quality services in the region.
Allocation of Resources: Budget Requires
The project requires that those in leadership positions acquire and install a stable source of Internet, such as a Wi-Fi router. The facility will need to allocate adequate resources to train and prepare all stakeholders for the intended change. The institution will also purchase additional smartphones for those who lack or are unable to afford them (Yang et al., 2019). The projected budgetary requirement for the project is around 13,000 US dollars. The amount will be essential to renew the required subscription, cater to technicians’ wages, and configure the selected apps. The continuous analysis will also be critical to ensure that the implemented project succeeds and eventually delivers the intended goals.
Lead Team and Timeline
The success of this project will depend on the competencies of the individuals involved in the leadership team. The project manager will be selected from the facility to minimize cases of opposition while the team will include several physicians, clinicians, caregivers, and nurses from the facility (Harris, 2016). These individuals will support the coordination process, identify gaps, and propose new ways for delivering positive results.
Some IT specialists and technicians will be involved to ensure that the project is successful. The proposed project should be completed within a period of 2 months. During the first two weeks, the stakeholders will learn more about the change and how it will transform their experiences.
The next one month will be required to launch and test the effectiveness of the introduced apps. The final two weeks will be utilized to measure the level of success and suggest new ways for improving the new practice continuously.
Measures of Success
The first measure of success will be the experiences and medical outcomes of the patients in the facility. The level of involvement for different practitioners and caregivers will determine if the presented change was successful or not.
The responses of different community members will make it easier for the project manager to monitor the success rate of the entire project (Reed, 2017). The information gained from these measures may guide the leaders in the selected facility to make the relevant improvements or adjustments to ensure that it continues to record additional outcomes.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this new technology will transform the services, practices, and medical procedures available in the hospital and meet the demands of more patients in the community.
References
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Calinici, T. (2017). Nursing apps for education and practice. Journal of Health & Medical Informatics, 8(3), 262-264.
Campbell, K. N. (2017). History, passion, and performance. Workplace Health & Safety, 65(4), 164-167.
Harris, A. (2016). Nursing to achieve organizational performance: Consider the role of nursing intellectual capital. Healthcare Management Forum, 29(3), 1-13.
Hassmiller, S. B., & Reinhard, S. C. (2015). A bold new vision for America’s health care system. American Journal of Nursing, 115(2), 49-55.
Miles, J. M., & Scott, E. S. (2019). A new leadership development model for nursing education. Journal of Professional Nursing, 35(1), 5-11.
Murray, T. A. (2019). The future of nursing 2020–2030: Educating the workforce. Journal of Nursing Education, 58(9), 499-500.
Palasuberniam, P., Suliong, C., Thangiah, V., & D’Souza, U. J. A. (2018). Medication errors: A review of classifications. Borneo Journal of Medical Sciences, 12(3), 11-18.
Reed, P. (2017). Translating nursing philosophy for practice and healthcare policy. Nursing Science Quarterly, 30(3), 1-12.
Yang, H., Poly, T. N., & Li, Y. (2019). Challenges of patient’s safety, satisfaction and quality of care in developing and developed counties. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 31(5), 323-324.