Introduction. Telehealth and Its Preculiarities
This presentation will describe the features of a new healthcare approach called telehealth, which has dramatically advanced the development of healthcare informatics and approaches used to treat patients. Have you ever thought that modern technologies can significantly simplify the work of healthcare providers and, at the same time, make it more efficient? Telehealth has numerous advantages of remote treatment of patients that I will be able to apply in my future practice (Snoswell et al., 2020). Using this method, it is possible to provide medical care not only in rural areas but also to act effectively in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why Telehealth is Important to Healthcare Informatics
An important feature of telehealth is the use of numerous innovative technologies that allow the doctor to interact with patients at a distance. Devices such as radio, television, smartphones, computers, and others can be used (Monaghesh & Hajizadeh, 2020). It is important to stress that, in addition to the gadgets themselves, this approach includes special software that allows quick and uninterrupted delivery of medical services. Therefore, telehealth is essential to healthcare informatics because it allows the introduction of innovative technological tools for more effective treatment.
Researches Regarding the Topic
The first scholarly article that has been found describes the essential conclusions from the research regarding the efficiency of telehealth during COVID-19. The article “The Role of Telehealth during COVID-19 Outbreak” incorporates 142 search results considering the outcome of telehealth applications (Monaghesh & Hajizadeh, 2020). As Monaghesh and Hajizadeh (2020) state, “this solution has the potential to prevent any sort of direct physical contact, provide continuous care to the community, and finally reduce morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 outbreak” (p. 1). It is vital to note that this article describes the advantages and efficiency of telehealth by considering its practical application.
Safeness and Costs’ Reduce
Telehealth has numerous advantages that will help nurses in their work. Another article states that telehealth can significantly reduce costs in areas such as “productivity gains, reductions in secondary care, alternate funding models, and telementoring” (Snoswell et al., 2020, p. 1). Since there is no need to transport medical equipment when using telehealth, it will also positively affect the safety of the process. These articles will relate to my future practice in terms of understanding the vital point of telehealth, reflecting my more efficient actions.
Conclusions on the Research of the Topic
Researching numerous sources of information and scholarly articles, I have concluded that while telehealth may seem easy to use, it requires careful and long training of nurses and doctors. In particular, the authors Snoswell et al. (2020) argue that it is crucial to function the software when communicating a nurse with a patient, such as smartphone applications or computer programs (Snoswell et al., 2020). It means that for the efficiency of telehealth, the medical facility needs to establish specific courses and practices for medical staff to teach various peculiarities of how this system works.
Legal Issues of Telehealth
Considering the topic of telehealth, it is crucial to explore how this approach deals with legal issues. First, the applied applications on smartphones or other types of software assume using an appropriate license to certify these programs (Snoswell et al., 2020). Therefore, the medical facility should ensure that all requirements follow laws and policies. Second, while providing treatment using telecommunication, it is vital to consider legal issues regarding patients’ privacy. For example, it is necessary for terms of long-term monitoring and obtaining information from the patient.
Plan to Implement Telehealth and Evaluation
As a plan for implementing a change regarding the use of telehealth, it is vital to consider different steps. First, the necessary gadgets and program software should be acquired and installed correctly. Second, specific courses based on practical experience should be provided for all medical staff interacting with telehealth treatment. Third, the professionals should guide and mentor the process to give nurses and doctors the necessary information and answer their questions as a part of ongoing training (Hebda et al., 2019). I will evaluate the success of telehealth implementation by monitoring results regarding the positive effects of patients’ treatment. For example, a survey or questionnaire can be conducted to obtain appropriate feedback from patients and their relatives.
The Costs and Feasibility of the Telehealth
Considering the costs of telehealth implementation, thinking in both short-term and long-term variants is essential. Acquiring techniques and software will be expensive and will reflect on the medical facility’s short-term finances. In addition, courses vital to teaching medical stuff necessary knowledge also require financial support (Hebda et al., 2019). However, as was stated previously in the presentation, telehealth will significantly reduce the costs of patients’ treatment in many fields. The financial responsibility will be on stakeholders, local representatives, and sponsors. Therefore, noteworthy that telehealth will be financially profitable in the long term and can be accessed as feasible and efficient for the medical facility.
Impact of Changes in Public Policy and Technological Advances
The new technologies will allow nurses to gather information using telehealth efficiently. For example, in the video “What Would Florence Nightingale Make of big data?” The author Spiegelhalter (2019) considers how vital it was for Florence Nightingale as a nurse to know statistics and data processing (Spiegelhalter, 2019). Therefore, as an impact of the future technological advances on telehealth, one should consider the improved efficiency in gathering data remotely and its processing by nurses. However, changes in public policies can impact telehealth differently (Hebda et al., 2019). On the one hand, they can ease the work of nurses by providing more appropriate rules for gathering information. On the other hand, restrictions regarding the privacy of the patients can be viewed as an obstacle.
The Meaning of Changes to the Healthcare Industry
The benefits of telehealth presented earlier demonstrate the efficiency and benefits for the medical industry in the context of new, innovative approaches to patient care. Therefore, this trend will positively affect healthcare in the future. The main benefits are the active use of new technological developments that will simplify the work of nurses and doctors and save money and human resources while working (Snoswell et al., 2021). In addition, the meaning of changes assumes that technological progress penetrates all spheres of human life and requires parallel training of people regarding literacy and interaction with new devices.
References
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Monaghesh, E., & Hajizadeh, A. (2020). The role of telehealth during COVID-19 outbreak: a systematic review based on current evidence. BMC Public Health 20, 1193. Web.
Snoswell, C., Taylor, M., Comans, T., Smith, A., Gray, L., & Caffery, L. (2020). Determining if Telehealth Can Reduce Health System Costs: Scoping Review. J Med Internet Res, 22(10), Web.
Snoswell, C., Chelberg, G., & Smith, A. (2021). The clinical effectiveness of telehealth: A systematic review of meta-analyses from 2010 to 2019. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 0. Web.
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