On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signs into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The law promotes electronic health records and infrastructure development to cut costs in health care. While the law does not mandate their use, the federal government has set aside twenty billion dollars to help in the development of a strong health information technology infrastructure. Title IV states, “NO INCENTIVE PAYMENT IF FIRST ADOPTING AFTER 2014” (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, 2009). In times of economic turmoil, medical organizations are scrambling to make a profit or just break even. So, the government has successfully made their point; however, clients who use health care suffer by losing personable …show more content…
With a click of a button, medical records show on a screen to help a physician diagnosis and treat clients. While at home, a client can click and be connected to an ED doctor who will clarify the need for a face-to-face visit (Palkon & Baranczyk, 2009). In the 21st-century, telemedicine is here; however, many clients want a personal touch. They want their doctor to know them as an individual because they are not comfortable telling a stranger their medical problems. The majority of Americans are above the age of 50 and many are not computer literate. They do not want to learn about electronic transmissions to get a doctor’s opinion. Clients are not the only people who are technologically challenged. Physicians go to medical school without learning a lot about computers; nevertheless, electronic communication is a necessary tool for health care professionals (Balzer-Riley, 2008, p. 75).To keep current, doctors are using mini laptops during the office visit. The doctor comes in, makes an assessment, determines a diagnosis, prescribes a treatment, and documents the visit on a mini computer. To save time, the physician will document during the visit which leaves the client wondering if the doctor is listening to what he says. Even a visit in person can become impersonal leaving the client wanting
Telehealth has become a preferred method of healthcare delivery for many patients and healthcare professionals alike. Some key benefits include its convenience and cost effectiveness. It also allows patients to play a more active role in their own healthcare, which has been found to dramatically increase patient outcomes. While research suggests that the advantages of telehealth outweigh the disadvantages, it is important to note that not everyone would benefit from this form of technology. It is crucial for the patient’s healthcare team to assess if this method of healthcare delivery is appropriate for that individual patient. In today’s society, staying current on the latest technologies is extremely important. Although telehealth
Mhealth has reached the poorest of communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). More than 9 million patients email their physician in 2009 (Digital Health Care, 2010), because patients’ busy lifestyles do not allow time for an office visit for non-emergent health conditions. . In recent years, the expansion of mobile health (mhealth) technologies, including health text messaging, mobile phone applications, remote monitoring, and portable sensors, have changed the way health care is being delivered in the U.S. and globally (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Patients like the convenience of communicating with his or her physician through advanced technology.
The benefits of telehealth consultations are immeasurable; clients are able to access a knowledgeable health care professional and receive a telephone triage/assessment and recommendations. This allows the patient to have immediate access to good health advice and quicker solutions. Telemedicine is one of the many vehicles of telehealth; for example, the cardiologist orders an outpatient Holter Monitor trial to evaluate arrhythmias. The technician calls the patient at the sign of any abnormal rhythm and investigate the activity performed when the reading fluctuation then the reported is communicated to the cardiologist. If warranted, the cardiology staff will contact the patient with instructions schedule an immediate appointment. Telehealth services resources would benefit the client in this next example, an individual’s come in for a sick visit expecting a prescription to be written for their illness; they receive informative instructions because of the nature of the
Upgrading our documentation to information and informatics comes with many advantages for the health care team to improve quality and safe ty improvement. Also, the use of technology such as telehealth, telenursing and videoconferencing are on the rise, and will be embedded into our communities and nursing organizations so that we can reach people around the country who do not have accessibility quality health care. Using technology to educate patients and families about credible websites, and how to search for pertinent information that is relevant to his or her health is a priority. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary emergency rooms visits. These actions foster communication and minimize anxiety
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) were passed by the Obama legislation to try and improve healthcare for Americans by reducing costs and improving quality. The ARRA is commonly known as the ‘stimulus package’. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) act was part of the ARRA to help improve our country’s infrastructure. HITECH supports electronic health records– meaningful use (EHR-MU) which is led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). HITECH allocated over $27 billion in funds to help encourage the healthcare industry in
The author, Judy Murphy, focuses mostly on how the government played a huge role in the adoption of EHRs into the medical world. Murphy brings up George Bush’s statement in his 2004 State of the Union address and Obama’s push to make that happen, but this is just scratching the surface of government interventions. The author discussed the money allocated by the acts such as “The Stimulus Bill” or “The Recovery Act” to help fuel the economy and rescue a struggling health care industry. She states how acts were passed, and how there were rules set in place to be followed by hospitals and providers around the United States. The article describes how the government is basically forcing these facilities to adopt EHRs by using a reward
Trends indicate the administrative complexity in the U.S. health care system requires that American hospitals employ far larger staffs to handle billing requirements (Anderson & Squires, p. 1-2). Furthermore, despite enormous innovation and investments in technology, the U.S. is failing to achieve improvements in life expectancy. The return on investment has been low; therefore, examination into other methods to increase quality of care, and decrease costs has become compelling. The U.S. has known for quite some time that health care costs, and therefore spending have gotten out of control. There have been several Presidents who have unsuccessfully attempted to help alleviate the nation of this issue. However, with the implementation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, we have begun to notice a positive trend, in the said decline in spending. There have been methods implemented to begin helping providers and organizations monitor their progress, reward them for proper adherence, and now there are
Communication plays a vital role in the healthcare setting, as the relationship with the healthcare professional sets the tone of the care experience and has a powerful impact on patient satisfaction. It is “the shared process in which messages are sent and received between two or more people which are made up of a sender, receiver, and message in a particular context” (cite, date). This essay highlights the importance of, and some common barriers to, effective communication in the healthcare setting. It involves many interpersonal skills such as effective observation, questioning and listening, giving feedback, recognizing and removing barriers.
Over the past decade, virtually every major industry invested heavily in computerization. Relative to a decade ago, today more Americans buy airline tickets and check in to flights online, purchase goods on the Web, and even earn degrees online in such disciplines as nursing,1 law,2 and business,3 among others. Yet, despite these advances in our society, the majority of patients are given handwritten medication prescriptions, and very few patients are able to email their physician4 or even schedule an appointment to see a provider without speaking to a live receptionist. Electronic health record (EHR) systems have the potential to transform the health care system from a mostly paper-based industry to one that utilizes clinical
The delivery of health care has always been influenced by technological developments and innovations. This is particularly true in modern health care professionals where they are obsessed with technology and rush to apply them. One of the most recent applications of ICT – Information and computer technology- is telehealth. Telehealth is the use of communication, diagnostic and information technology to provide health care when patients and providers are geographically separated [2], Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, store -and-forward imaging, streaming media, terrestrial and wireless communications. Telehealth could be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the telephone or as
This is an analysis of a taped interview between a nurse and a patient who is taking pre-employment medicals. The information given during the interview, including her name, Pink Cloud is fictitious because of the need of confidentiality. During the interview, objective and subjective data will be collected. The areas of communication focused on in the analysis are verbal, questioning and listening skills. Analysis will be made and later suggestions and recommendations will be made on how to make improvements in the future. To achieve this, direct quotations from the will be used to make references to the three theories being analysed and will be supported by the literature.
Electronic medical records (EMR) software is a rapidly changing and often misunderstood technology with the potential to cause great change within the medical field. Unfortunately, many healthcare providers fail to understand the complex functions of EMRs, and they rather choose to use them as a mere alternative to paper records. EMRs, however, have many functionalities and uses that could help to improve the patient-physician relationship and the overall quality of patient care. In order for this potential to be realized, both the patient and the healthcare provider must have a deeper understanding of EMR purpose and function. In this paper will highlights the historical developments and its potential effects on the patient physician relationship in order to
It is important to understand that patients are very satisfied with electronic health systems. For example, patients see a vast improvement in the speed at which they are being seen when they go their doctors’ office. Patients no longer have to wait on their physicians for hours due to the fact that their information can be readily available to their physicians when they come to see them. Moreover, all their information is transparent to their health care provider since all their data is in electronic form.
The future trends in health care are limitless. From using applications that perform EKG’s to robot-assisted surgery, the rapid expansion of technology applications in health care is astounding. Advancing technology also pushes the boundaries of health care in its ability to integrate health care information. The integration of health care information is critical to the effective, efficient delivery of quality care in a now fragmented health care system. This paper will assess how the internet or any new forms of electronic communication can be used as an external delivery source of communicating patient-specific information, address the impact of distance delivery on health care, how these communication issues impact health care today and
There are several forms of technology that is used to monitor, assist patients with self-care management, assist physicians with delivering care to their patients, including consultation with specialist, and overcoming barriers with transportation. “60% of the healthcare executives, physicians, and nurses in this inaugural survey said that telemedicine was a high priority for 2015“ (Vockley, 2015, para. 7) Telemedicine