Improving Local Healthcare

Social media rules our world today and provides instant resources that keep us informed and connected. Advancement in technology has provided multiple resources and valuable information that is literally available at one’s fingertips. The availability of information is endless and provides for fast, more effective learning within the nursing and medical world. There is mass skepticism and question within the nursing environment regarding the use of technology, whether it is via cell phone use, computer, laptop, or internet usage. There is a serious concern regarding HIPAA laws, patient privacy acts, and the legalities tied to an individual’s rights while under medical care.

The health care sector is impacted by numerous changes and challenges, such as increasing need for health care provision, changing demands from patients or rapidly evolving technologies. In the context of evolving technologies, the developments occur not only in the actual provision of the medical act, but also at the level of the complementary operations, such as health care information management.

With new developments in technology in healthcare also comes with great responsibility from an ethical standpoint. Decisions can be difficult, ethically when taking into consideration of the life, health or amount of money needed for the type of care given to a patient. Here are a few examples of medical technology perceptions that have changed of the last decade ethically:

Going back hundreds of years, we can trace the history of health care. Although it has evolved over the years, it all has a common goal; to heal those who are ill. Technology is one of the major evolutions and now plays a big role in the health care system. It helps patients to be more involved with their healthcare. They can make appointments, follow up on test results, and contact their doctors. Back then, they didn’t even have all the medicine we have now, let alone the technology. We can only imagine what is in store for the future.

How does the nurse/patient decide what is right and what is wrong when using health information technology (HIT)? Nurses face dilemmas resulting from HIT initiatives such as, from electronic health care (EHR). Ethical guidance can help safeguard both patients and providers when it comes to the increased use of digital information in health care. Nurses and patients alike, are seeing more information use in health care to make determinations about health populations and legislation. Technology is reshaping healthcare practices and because of this, nurses need to be competent in making ethical decisions about informatics technology (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2012).

Medical care will only become more complex (Lyckholm, et. al, 2001). Therefore, the need for continued education amongst each other and healthcare organizations is important in limiting issues that may affect standards of care.

This article offers 10 suggestions on how to improve the overall quality of your health care without increasing your costs. These suggestions certainly are not a substitute for meaningful health care reform, but following these useful tips will enhance communication with your health care provider and help you get the most out of your medical coverage. 1. Read the fine print on your medical insurance policy to avoid unnecessary costs. Some health insurance policies cover preventative care, such as routine physicals and screenings, at 100% with no deductible per 12-month time period. Be aware that a 12-month time period is not the same thing as a calendar year, and keep careful track of when you had your last office visit for preventative care.

An external strength is the availability of new technology in the workplace. There are many emerging technologies that will change the practice of nursing in the coming decade including genetics and genomics, less invasive and more accurate tools for diagnosis and treatment of diseases, 3-D printing, robotic simulations, biometrics, electronic health records, and even computerized physician order sets (Huston, 2013). This skill set is forecasted to become even more essential in the coming years. One goal identified in the Healthy People 2020 initiatives is use of health information technology to improve population health outcomes and health care quality, and to achieve health equity (Healthy People 2020, 2012).

Ethics is part of the decision making process that a nurse uses and is a foundation of nursing. Nursing needs ethical standards to rely on in order to provide quality care for patients and to keep them from harm while respecting their wishes (da Silva Santos, Cartaxo, & Buriti 2016). Ethics is defined as a guide, or a code, that given populations use to model behaviors (Finkelman & Kenner 2016). When referring to the nursing profession, ethics are the driving factor when considering what is right and wrong. The goal of ethics in nursing is to provide a means to support the decision making process of the patient. Nursing informatics will be specifically discussed as a resource for the purposes of this paper. Only peer-reviewed articles from professional journals were reviewed. The ethical dilemmas the author will present surround the use of informatics in technology and how they now arise in the medical profession, with nursing in particular. The nursing code of ethics addresses the issues of patient rights. The nursing code of ethics challenges the nurse to provide complete and accurate information in order to facilitate informed consent, while weighing the benefits, responsibilities, and options for treatment (ANA

Patients are taking control of their healthcare needs. They are more informed than ever. The internet plays a major role in their learning. They are scheduling their appointments when their schedule permits and not the doctors, an end to long surgical waiting lists, and they want the latest best medications. Health care simply will never stay the same. It changes on a daily basis (Dranove & Sfekas, 2009).

In terms of healthcare, that is no different. According to Ray, MD and Norbeck (2014), “...it drew attention to and hastened the growth of a mega-trillion dollar industry that seems more interested in advanced technology, federal regulation and personal data collection, than in the doctor’s care and life-saving treatment of patients.” Ray, MD and Norbeck outline a doctor’s perspective as it relates to the many changes in the healthcare industry. Ideally it illuminates the advantages and disadvantages that it poses for doctors. Furthermore, it displays the general turmoil that has been spewing for them in terms of such changes for a significant amount of time. Ideally as Universal Healthcare is cutting costs for the average individual, it is also becoming expensive to maintain all the technological aspects of the system. Therefore, another aspect of the debate becomes noted and the question of whether the American Universal Healthcare system is really cutting costs becomes raised. Although seemingly it may be cutting costs, who fits the bill for all the technology that has come about within the healthcare system? Such an understanding creates a sense of awareness that technology is ideally taking over the healthcare system. Thus, many other debates have been formed regarding the issues of technology as it regards to the healthcare system. As some may not find it as much of an

In this paper I will be speaking on the Health Care Industry and how it has changed over the years. There are many aspects of the medical industry that have changed from how medical information is kept to how medication is given. In this paper I will be explaining how health care has changed over the last 10 years and what the biggest change is in the next 10 years. I will also speak about what my role will be in the health industry, especially when it comes to adapting my skills into the health care industry. Along with the information mentioned above I will be expressing my perception of how the health care has changed over the course of my

Identify and describe at least three of the most difficult issues facing health care in the United States today. One of the most difficult issues facing the United States health care system is combating diseases. Even with mortality rates continuing to decrease and with life expectancy rates continuing to increase, these trends are masking concerns with specific diseases, injuries, and population groups. The diseases that still give us a formidable challenge include many varieties of cancer, some kinds of infectious diseases, and influenza. The second difficult issue

Healthcare Information Technology has drastically changed in the past 10 years. With billions of dollars being spent to insure improvement in the healthcare industry. In 2009 President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The President did this with hope to improve the delivery of healthcare in the United States by giving incentives for the implementation of Electronic Health Record and meaningful use of them. To become eligible for meaningful use is somewhat different for hospitals than it is professionals.

Health care costs in the United States (US) have skyrocketed. Unfortunately, patient experiences and quality of care have declined. Population health attempts to improve the health of the entire population by addressing these shortcomings. At the heart of population health are the principles of lowering costs while simultaneously providing high-quality care. If population health is to be successful, the process must include patient participation (Nash, Fabius, Skoufalos, Clarke, & Horowitz, 2016). Practice redesign refers to a process that intentionally sets out to improve and redesign how medical care is currently provided in the US, thereby improving the efficiency of a currently ineffective system (Kilo & Watson, 2010).