Microvascular reconstructive flap surgery is an effective way for the medical team to improve the appearance or functionality of a surgical or existing tissue defect. Microvascular free tissue transfers, or free flaps, are monitored for arterial and venous insufficiency for several days during the post-operative period. The gold standard for flap monitoring includes the clinical inspection of color, capillary refill, temperature, and turgor of the transplanted tissue involved. Due to limited alternative reconstructive options available to patients, accurate and timely flap assessments are critical to the viability of the flap. Unfortunately post-operative complications are sometimes unavoidable, however monitoring by a trained clinician is associated with early flap salvage rates that in turn improve patient care outcomes (Salgado, Chim, Shoenoff, & Mardini, 2010).
This performance improvement proposal explores the efficiency and accuracy of using telemedicine as an adjunct method of free flap monitoring comparted to traditional methods. This proposal will discuss the relevance of using digital photographs and internet technology as a means to improve response times between the nurse and the primary plastic surgeon that increase salvage rates of ischemic flaps. Conclusive findings from two studies involving 200 free flaps indicate that digital photographs and smart phone communication resulted timely intervention by the plastic that contributed to the success of flap
The patient’s vital signs have stabilized, with HR in the 70s, BP is in the 120s/60s, regular RR and 37.6o Celsius temperature. Graft site wound bed is pink with tissue granulation noted. The learner is expected to prepare the patient for discharge. This SCE prepares the learner for the following items of the NCLEX-RN test format:
Unfortunately, along with the good must come the bad. For every positive aspect of smartphones and social media in healthcare related settings, there is an equally negative aspect. One pitfall of smartphones in healthcare is directly related to one of the positive aspects of smartphones: the availability of medical
Due to the skin being severely damages it’s going to take a long time to heal. The skin graft will help prevent infection and speed up the healing process.
Over the past decade, virtually every major industry invested heavily in computerization. The heath care industry was no exception to the rise in the use of technology. These technologies are starting to allow health care practitioners to offer faster, and more efficient patient care than ever before. No doubt this is the right direction we expect health care to follow.
Have you or your family member ever been in the hospital? Did you ever experience the anxiety, fear, and anger while waiting for the doctor or nurse to update you with the status of your loved one? The hospital is the last place where you or your family wants to be, but unfortunately, it either happens on the emergency basis or scheduled procedures. The project that we have chosen will address the communication problems between patient's families and medical personnel. The project will consist of a HIPPA-compliant, messaging system that will be updating family members about the patients undergoing surgical procedures. This service provided by utilizing a mobile platform with
In observation, (Fahnestock, McComb, & Deshmukh, 2013) stated "Information technologies are transforming the way healthcare is delivered. Innovations such as computer-based patient records, hospital information systems, computer-based decision support tools, community health information networks and new ways of distributing health information.” (p.3.2). In the sector of delivering healthcare using technology, has made it easier for healthcare professionals to access medical records, digitization of prescriptions and view test results. With the use of high-performance devices being used in the hospital, helps to make the jobs of healthcare professionals a little easier. As well as relieve anxiety from anxious patients that may be awaiting lab results to come back. Therefore, IT devices and services has been and continues to be a tremendous help and game changer for the healthcare system. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to help shape and reform the healthcare
We can look at how technology is affecting healthcare. This can be accredited to the rising population rate. We have seen the use of electronic medical records (EMR). They have shown to not only improve the quality of care for patients but also reduce the overall costs of healthcare (Swartz, 2005). In the study by Health Affairs, an electronic medical record could save the United States over $81 billion in one year. This would tremendously cut down the cost for private insurances and Medicare. Also, technology has allowed for the increasing shift in the demographic population moving to larger cities. In our small rural hospital, the radiologist at larger facilities or teleradiologist read our exams. This still allows for adequate patient care by reducing the cost of a radiologist being
Veterinarians perform countless surgeries on domestic animals throughout their career. Many of these operations, however, are predominantly cosmetic and primarily requested by the owner for personal benefit (Mills, Robbins, and Keyserlingk, 2016). Procedures such as tail docking, ear cropping a domesticated dog, or declawing a particularly destructive indoor house cat may be beneficial to an owner, but the very little benefit an animal gets from these surgeries has created immense disagreement with Veterinary associations and animal welfare groups. Surgical alteration for primarily cosmetic reasons can be detrimental to the health of a domesticated animal and the controversy and resulting negative health implications of these elective surgeries
Technology is changing the way healthcare is delivered. Palms West Hospital and all of HCA hospitals are making every effort to exceed patient’s expectations with a variety of technology and different information systems. Some of the services offered by HCA East Florida Hospitals include Patient Portal, which gives instant access to patient’s health information. This service is accessible 24/7 and lets patient’s lab/radiology reports, medication instructions, discharge summaries, automatic bill pay, health libraries, registering for classes and even upcoming patient appointments with HCA affiliated physician offices. JFK Hospital offers both Cyber Knife for tumors and Robotic Surgery for Urology, Gynecology, and General Surgery.
Also, by electronically entering medical information such as “admission narratives, laboratory tests, radiology studies, and nurse and physician notes”, one can increase patient safety (J. Crane & F.G. Crane, 2006). Additionally, “compared to paper-based systems, EMRs reduced medical errors by 55%”(J. Crane & F.G. Crane, 2006). Furthermore, there are other benefits like improving the communication between the healthcare providers and patients, providing easier access to medical knowledge, helping in technique monitoring such as remote monitoring (J. Crane & F.G. Crane,
If we didn’t use technology for medical procedures, we would still be trapped in the twentieth century. This generation is all about the future. Instead of creating a large wound for surgeries, doctors use little cameras to see what they’re doing. This is a more efficient way of surgery because there is only a little cut rather than a large
Skin grafts have and will continue to positively impact a broad population of patients as a person of any age, gender, socioeconomic status, and geographic location can suffer burn injuries. It is important to understand the history of skin grafts to understand where advancements in skin grafts are headed. The purpose of this study will be to create a general literature review on the evolution of skin grafts through the 20th and 21st century.
Shawna Garito BSN, RN, CWON is a nationally certified wound and ostomy specialist at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida. She has been serving the Sacred Heart Ministry for 8 years in the cardiology, intensive care, and wound care capacity. She holds certifications in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), Basic Life Support (BLS) and Diabetic Foot and Nail Care. Currently, she provides advanced wound healing modalities for patients with wounds originating from diabetic complications, venous and arterial disease as well post-operative dehiscence. She also provides pre and post-operative education and teaching to new colostomy, ileostomy and urostomy patients.
Most advances of telehealth in the medical field have taken place in the last twenty to thirty years. A great progression of telehealth was the introduction of telemedicine, which include teleradiology and telepathology. As further fields joined the telemedicine platform, telehealth use facilitated even more healthcare providers to retrieve information regarding their patients, irrespective of the distances between themselves and the patients, and in settings other than traditional healthcare locations. Quick transmissions, clearer imaging, and precise duplication of data from distant sites to a central center, was only attained after decades spent perfecting the technology. The outcomes of telehealth interactions today have aided to assure that professionals can duplicate the normal clinical communications in all specialties notwithstanding the separation gap involved in the interaction, whether operating off location or directly with patients (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2015, p. 316-317).
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