The Delivery of Health Services - Essay Example

Telecommunications Technology and the Delivery of Health Services al Affiliations Introduction Telemedicine is a word that is a component of two words, that is, ‘Tele, meaning distance and medicine. Telemedicine, therefore, is the application of telecommunication and information technologies otherwise known as IT for the purposes of administering medical healthcare from quite some distance. This technological advancement in the field of medicine and nursing has become very essential since it does away with barriers related to distance hence providing improved medical access. In addition to this, the technology is very beneficial in terms of life-saving practices especially during critical times of emergencies. Despite the fact that there have been precursors to the science of telemedicine, this technology has been majorly a product of information technology and telecommunication which came up during the 20th Century (Lee & Meuter, 2010). How and When Telemedicine Technology can be used to Provide Patient Care Provision of medical care through this technology is done through what is referred to as telemonitoring whereby treatment or medical advice is provided to a patient who is far away from the geographical location of the doctor or generally the person who is providing the medical attention. What happens is that the patient at home or away from the hospital is fixed with some monitoring devices in his or her body. The fixed diagnostic devices in the body of the patient are capable of transmitting or relaying diagnostic information through the telephone to the medical attendant who is still at the hospital. This has helped to reduce the cost of travelling to and from the hospital environment and has also helped most patients to practice basic health care services on their own (Lewis et al., 2012). As a matter of fact, more detailed results and information on the progress of the patients state of health and response to medication can be obtained through telecommunication between the patient and the healthcare provider based at the hospital. More interestingly is the fact that there is available telemonitoring software that can automatically relay information to the medical attendant since such software always enables the healthcare provider to remain in touch with the patient. Depending on what kind of response the healthcare provider obtains from the patient of from the software following monitoring of patients progress from diagnostic devices fixed on the patient, the medical attendant can comfortably make an informed decision on the type of medication to administer. The doctor may, therefore, decide to administer the treatment during the next time that the patient reports to the hospital (Newman et al., 2012). Precisely, some of the parameters that are monitored by the telemonitoring devices previously mentioned include the heart rate, blood pressure in the case of either hypertension or hypotension, the level of glucose in the blood, weight of the patient and the status of haemoglobin among others. So long as the patient undergoing diagnosis has the diagnostic devices properly fixed on the specific anatomical locations, it is very possible to monitor changes in vital signs by the healthcare provider at the hospital while the patient comfortable settles at home. The health care provider has the responsibility of monitoring the patients vital signs either on daily or weekly basis depending on the severity of the patients condition and by so doing, offer the best choice of medication. Such remote patient monitoring techniques have been applied in the monitoring and treatment of chronic infections and diseases, especially in the treatment and management of diabetes (Lahiri, 2013). Barriers to the Adoption of Telemedicine The science of telemedicine is quickly acquiring favor from medical stakeholders and is obtaining at least some space in the field of healthcare delivery. The American Telemedicine Association for instance has reported that there already exists around two hundred networks for telemedicine all over the country and that there were prospects of the government to allow establishments of more telehealth networks to reach a greater audience. Nevertheless, the technology, despite its prospective goodwill, has faced some challenges which if properly handled can lead to a great breakthrough in medical diagnostics and treatment (Schwamm, 2014). One big challenge that makes the telemedicine technology not to have the required success is the limited accessibility of broadband services. This technology requires a fast and efficient access to the internet to ensure that information is transmitted through wireless technology from the patient to the medical attendant in the hospital. Since some patients are found quite rural areas, especially in the developing countries, lack of efficient internet services become a gross challenge to the advancement of telemedicine technology (Newman et al., 2012). Another barrier to the advancement of this technology is the legal framework of the countries in question. We do not underestimate the fact that there are bills relating to the same presented to the Congress of the United States of America, but whether these bills will go through and become legal laws is another thing all together. It is not certain if the government will provide for service reimbursements to cater for the costs incurred in the establishment and smooth running of the telemedicine technology (Lahiri, 2013). Moreover, cultural issues related to the development of the technology and its use in modern medicine may play a huge role in hindering the advancement of the technology. It may happen that the clinicians in a certain setting are not interested in the application of the technology. In such a case, it would be very difficult to convince relevant financial aid groups to support the establishment of a technology that many people are against. In this case, therefore, the culture of rejection of new technologies into the field of medicine acts as a barrier to the adoption of the telemedicine technology (Lewis et al., 2012). Chronic Disease Condition and Healthcare Websites A chronic disease condition that can be handled efficiently through telemedicine technology is Chronic Respiratory Disease. Three websites that can be beneficial to patients suffering from Chronic Respiratory Disease are http://www.copdeducation.org.uk, http://www.researchgate.net/journal/1479-9723_Chronic_Respiratory_Disease and http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/10/3/198.full. These websites are very useful to Chronic Respiratory Disease patients because they provide information on the serious signs and syndromes of the disease. Moreover, the websites are rich in diagnostic methods of the condition and even show how the condition can be monitored by the use of telemedicine technology, hence making it easy for such patients to follow results of their diagnoses. Moreover, the websites provide information on possible treatment procedures for this condition and in this case, therefore, the patient is exposed to prior knowledge of what to expect during medication. Furthermore, the websites provide some information about approximate cost of the medical procedures to be carried out during management of this disease condition (Newman et al., 2012) Proper knowledge of how to look for information from websites should be availed to the patients during forums such as one-on-one meetings with the medical attendant. Another possible forum for sharing such information is during seminars that take place in the hospital or maybe other areas agreed upon by the hospital management in consultation with the patients. Such information can be passed on to the patients practically by use of mobile cells that can access the internet or by use of laptops and desktops with the availability of broadband internet access. Another probable method is to invite the patients guardians to a meeting and train them on how to access relevant information relating to Chronic Respiratory Disease and send them back to teach the patients on the same. This works very well especially because some patients may prefer to keep their medical conditions private and confidential, yet the only people that can pass such information to them are the guardians (Lee & Meuter, 2010). Criteria for Evaluating Whether a Healthcare Website is Reputable To establish whether the website is reputable, users can check on the sources of the information provided on the website. This is especially the specific areas where the information was published since it is already known that quality medical information is published in scientific journals with credibility and that are peer reviewed. The second criterion is to examine the fitness of the information provided on the website and whether the information provided is in line with already known information. New information always comes from already existing information; hence all new findings are expected to have their basis on the already existing pieces of scientific information. Next, it is important to find out whether the body that funded a particular research had anything to gain so that it may influence the results of the research. A drug selling body for instance may influence positive results of a research on the efficacy of a drug so as market the particular drug, hence such information provided by such research should be thoroughly scrutinized to ensure that there are no false positives. Moreover, in the event that information provided is gotten from the televisions, magazines or mere brochures, it is important to be perfectly sure that you can trust the credibility of such information. It is true that the media obtains most of its medical reports from existing medical journals. On the contrary, however, some media do not obtain information from such medical journals, which leaves the website user with the sole responsibility of verifying the credibility of information provided. Above all, it is important to note that the most credible information from the internet is obtained from well-known medical experts such health agencies and medical organizations which have gained reasonable reputation over time (Schwamm, 2014). Benefits and Barriers of Personal Health Records These records are very important in the improvement of patient engagement in their health care and general wellbeing. Outside the hospital setting is where much of patient health care services by the patients occur and this gives the patients an opportunity to understand the importance of their health conditions. Secondly, the patients from information provided in PHRs can combine and coordinate the knowledge provided by different healthcare providers. In addition to this, PHRs are an assurance that the patients information is readily available online hence the healthcare provider can easily access the information and act accordingly, especially when the patient is travelling. The use of PHRs serves to reduce the cost of administration in hospitals since most information on prescriptions, appointments and less time is used in looking for patients information. Again, the use of PHRs has improved communication between the medical attendants and patients since communication has become safe increasing doctor-patient relationships. In conclusion, these PHRs have encouraged family health management since the family and relatives at large can offer help to the care provider (Lahiri, 2013). One core barrier to the adoption of PHRs is a lack of concrete evidence that the benefits are really important to caregivers, patients, and other institutions. Another barrier is the fact that PHRs use a technology that is still under evolution; hence it is challenging to operate with PHRs until the technology gains full utilization. Some users still complain that use of PHRs is useless until it gives its users beneficial value (Lewis et al., 2012). Some of the safety and security provisions for PHR are related to privacy and confidentiality and data security as provided in the PHRs. More of this safety and regulatory provisions are a decision support and the legal, regulatory environment. All these are legal and ethical frameworks that ensure that the rights of patients are preserved even with the use of PHRs in the modern practice of medical treatment (Lee & Meuter, 2010). Conclusion Telemedicine technology can be used to provide general healthcare to patients, which initially started through the operation of standard telephone lines in an attempt to provide cardiac defibrillation to patients. It is interesting to note that the use of this technological advancement in the field of medicine is gaining prowess and growing at a very fast rate. It is however quite disappointing to note that most of such advancements, despite the fact that they are very essential, they are majorly found in the developing economies concentrating on the reducing morbidity of most chronic diseases. There are however future prospects that these technological advancements in medicine will be globally accepted and available for use to all patients, irrespective of which country they come from. References Lahiri, K. (2013). Telemedicine, e-health and health related IT enabled services: The Indian situation. Globsyn Management Journal, 7(1), 1-16. Lee, O. F., & Meuter, M. L. (2010). The adoption of technology orientation in healthcare delivery. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing, 4(4), 355-374. Lewis, T., Synowiec, C., Lagomarsino, G., & Schweitzer, J. (2012). E-health in low- and middle-income countries: Findings from the centre for health market innovations. World Health Organization. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 90(5), 332-40. Newman, Lareen, B.A., PhD., Biedrzycki, Kate, BSc, Grad Dip Int. Health, M.P.H., & Baum, Fran, B.A., PhD. (2012). Digital technology use among disadvantaged Australians: Implications for equitable consumer participation in digitally-mediated communication and information exchange with health services. Australian Health Review, 36(2), 125-9. Schwamm, L. H. (2014). Telehealth: Seven strategies to successfully implement disruptive technology and transform health care. Health Affairs, 33(2), 200-6. Read More