Access To Care: A Literature Review

With the uberization of healthcare and telehealth we often feel overwhelmed by the push for telehealth. As independent advisors, Ingenium Telehealth Consultants will work with you to determine which services will be successful, appropriate and the best way to integrate technology into the care delivery processes. Several benefits have been identified as a result of telehealth services being introduced. Increase the accessibility of and to professional caregivers Increase the quality and continuity of care to patients Increase the focus on preventive medicine through early intervention Reduce the overall cost of healthcare Education and training Contrary to vendor solutions, one size does not fit all.

Medical technologies and apps are relevant to solving most of the challenges affecting Suburban Independent Clinic(SIC). The implementation of mobile technologies will improve the efficient and effective delivery of care to the patients visiting the clinic. Mobile devices and its application will facilitate SIC patients to have 24/7 access to their medical records, refill their prescriptions, complete medical forms online, send emails and video chat with their doctors, thus leading to a better opportunity of managing their conditions. Patients will have other options available for scheduling their appointments. With improved mobile technology and apps, patients could schedule their appointments using text messaging, email, web app.

The most commonly reported telemedicine services were tele-psychiatry and tele-cardiology, followed by telestroke and teledermatology. Exhibit 2 provides an overview of respondents’ affiliations and respective

According to some respondents, many physicians are unsure what is—and is not—reimbursable with respect to telehealth services, particularly if the patient has Medicare or Medicaid coverage. This lack of clarity made physicians feel that there is a financial risk in providing telehealth services. On a similar note, most private payers in Idaho do not cover telehealth services, and there are currently no provisions for recouping costs for the uninsured. While noting reimbursement as a challenge for telehealth, other respondents felt like the challenges related to reimbursement were no greater than those associated with other forms of service delivery. Therefore, they did not exert an undue influence on a provider’s decisions to engage in telehealth

Staples & Earle (2008) used a phenomenology research design, where they used a convenience sample of CHF patients to determine effective technologies for monitoring patients with heart failure admissions and mortality. The effectiveness of CHF patients through the use of telephonic assessments and interventions was implemented. Congestive Heart Failure study participants (n=591) were managed by a team of registered nurses and nurse practitioners. Data was collected using a telephone log and appropriate medical protocols were provided. Data was analyzed; determining frequency of calls, level of care required and scope of practice needed to ensure proper care of the patients.

Similarly to the JayDoc Clinic, mobile health clinics act as healthcare safety nets when traditional medical services are unavailable or unattainable. This alternative approach to healthcare was developed to eliminate financial and nonfinancial barriers to accessing medical services (Bennet et al., 2009). Transportable clinics are particularly unique because they eliminate accommodation barriers such as time, transportation issues, and scheduling difficulties (Kullgren & Mclaughlin, 2010). Additionally, the return on investment for mobile health clinics was estimated at thirty-six dollars for every dollar invested; considering the value of life years saved and emergency room visits avoided (Bennet et al., 2009). This illustrates the potential for transportable care clinics to prevent excessive and unnecessary healthcare

Most of us probably cannot recall a world without internet, cellphones, and laptops. Technology has transformed the world we live in today. Undoubtedly, technology has changed the way health care is delivered. Electronic prescribing allows prescribers to send prescriptions electronically and directly to the pharmacy. E-prescribing has been demonstrated to reduce prescribing errors in outpatient settings.

Barriers that prevent residents from receiving proper excersise and nutrition include lack of transportation, inadequate sidewalks, sufficient income, absence of social support, and time. Large quantities of rural individuals who are uninsured are more likely to utilize the emergency department when care could have been managed in a primary practice. A community health center can help with unnecessary visits to the emergency room by providing low to no cost primary care through preventative services for rural areas suffering from poverty. In rural communities there are significantly fewer mental health providers than urban areas. Mental health providers with expertise and higher level of specialization are particularly rare in rural areas.

Hello, Lori You made a great point with telehealth and telecare. Sanders et al. (2012) identified telehealth and telecare interventions for improving quality and cost-effectiveness of care for people with long term complex health and social care needs. Patients who use this innovative change in care delivery have an increase in autonomy. There is the convenience as you emphasized due to decrease in unnecessary travel.

Virtual health visits have been souring across the nation with private firms making billions of dollars. Virtual health visits has facilitated more convenient access to care, less expensive and no copays. Its effectiveness has been proven as compared to in-person doctor visit, particularly for relatively minor urgent-care needs. (Tahir, 2015). One of the main goals of virtual and telehealth care models is bringing primary care closer to their patients and treating the most common diagnoses.

Problem Identification Currently, the world faces a shortage of medical professionals as the population continues to increase and with more incidences of chronic illnesses. With the increased the cost of healthcare, telehealth offers an efficient tool for delivery of quality care. The problems that prompted the development of telehealth include: • Large population increase in the U.S. With a 20 percent estimated rise between years 2008 to 2030 (Hein, 2009). • The constraint in number of educated, trained as well as licensed healthcare professionals •rise in chronic diseases incidences globally, such as diabetes and heart failures •the obligation to offer quality care to the elderly, and the home-bound, as well as the physically disabled population

The technological advancements have not only helped nurses to be better informed, but have also helped the clients to be better informed. Informed patients and families can help the nurses and HCPs by speaking up about symptoms they have noticed that the health care team may have been unable to witness or may have look past. Technology being available to everyone is mostly a good luxury, at the same time, many people can be misinformed and cause more trouble demanding treatments or care that are unsuitable for them because they read about it online. 3.

EHR has its advantages and disadvantages of implementing new technology in the health care system, EHR can help improve collaboration, communication, performance, and decrease added work. The author believes that the incentives that the government is providing for physicians and hospitals to adopt electronic health records system will help improve accessibility to patient data, improve preventative health, and provide a collaboration from both patients and health professionals to increase patient ’s outcomes of their overall

Adoption of EHR can improve quality and reduce the cost. Patient information is readily available on EHR and is accessible by any providers

Healthcare providers are able to use these advancements in technology to provide healthcare services to patients from a distance. This provide ease of access and flexibility to patients. Telehealth services compared to in-person visits, has the potential to save millions of dollars (Kvedar, 2014). However, there are quite