Patient-Centered Healthcare - Research Paper Example

Running Head: assignment Patient Centered Healthcare of the of the of the Ans When wetalk of service attributes and service quality dimensions, theory describes it in the form of empathy, reliability, responsiveness and assurance. Quality in services is something which cannot be touched or measured like the way we do with products. Similar is the case with healthcare services. Here the quality depends on how well the patient is treated by the professionals and staff. The patient might not be aware of technical know-how of the medical processes and so patient care cannot be judged on the basis of technicalities (Kenagy, Berwick and Shore 1999).

In healthcare services, patients feel valued and cared when they receive timely care, staff to provide them support during registration and other paper formalities, helping them understand different processes and reassuring them of their good health and recovery. Such service quality dimensions help increase patient satisfaction and loyalty towards respective physicians and thus assist physicians in retaining their customers amidst stiff competition. Ans. 2: In the reading, three kinds of PHRs are described along with mention of three healthcare systems which implemented this PHRs.

Description of those kinds are: Tethered- the HER product called MyChart established by Epic Systems falls under tethered PHR category whereby patients can view their medical records and communicate with physicians for basic activities. However, the entire set up is provider filtered and comes under the aegis of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Stand-alone- PatientSite implemented at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical centre is a stand alone PHR system whereby updating health information is entirely in the hands of consumers and full fledged patient-doctor messaging and communication is facilitated by this system.

Hosted by 3rd Party- Implementation of Indivo at Children’s Hospital Boston is an example of 3rd party hosted PHR system which accepts multiple user health records entry but is covered under security and privacy measures and users are free to decide with whom to share their PHR and exercise control over the access of their PHRs. Ans. 3: All the three healthcare systems faced dilemmas is selecting what should be shared electronically with the patients. In this regard, I agree with the contention that clinical notes should be shared with the patients.

Clinical notes are personal thought process outcomes of physicians, based on their understanding of patient’s history, medical condition, drugs, recovery status and other details. They might diagnose something which is to be shared with the patient later on after the confirmation of certain things or appearance of some symptoms. Some privacy should be provided to the treatment method of practitioners and physicians also and as such, I agree that clinical notes should not be shared with the patients (Halamka, Mandl and Tang 2008).

Secondly, I do not agree with the point that private and confidential data of patients regarding psychiatric conditions and sexually transmitted diseases should not be shared openly. Internet usage is considered to be the most open and speedier mode of communication and we still live in a world where people feel embarrassed to talk of such conditions. We all know that such diseases are not contagious and as such, complete sharing of this information should be allowed so as to develop the confidence of patients in them and let them share their views and opinions with patients having similar conditions. Ans. 4: The article demonstrates a fair level of good work done in the field of developing and implementing PHRs (personal health records) by three healthcare systems.

Comparing their achievements and future plans and Harris Poll findings, it can be said that making appointments, getting meeting reminders and emailing the doctors directly will be the easiest services provided by such documents. Rest of the demanded technologies namely accessing medical records, receiving test results and getting monitor results at home will be implemented to a certain level depending upon the availability and intensity of security measures, level of relationship between patient and physician and adherence to the ‘meaningful use’ of HITECH Act (Brown 2011).

Discussion forum In order to gain the trust of public regarding sharing and hosting of their private and confidential information electronically, US government need to develop a strong governance structure with clearly defined roles of professionals and specified accountability of each. Secondly, policy rules should initiate the development and implementation of technological inputs and not vice versa (Williams 2009). Technology is the main driver of both success of failure in this industry and trust factor of public rests on how well authentication, validation and confidentiality dimensions are maintained while resorting to latest technological advancements.

Proper communication channels should be developed and people made aware of new innovations in healthcare industry to gather their feedback, earn rapport and develop transparent relations. References Brown, C.V. (2011). Patient-centered Healthcare. Stevens Institute of Technology. Halamka, J, Mandl, K.D, and Tang, P (2008). “Early Experiences with Personal Health Records.” Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), 15:1, pp. 1-7. Kenagy, J, Berwick, D.M, and Shore, M.F (1999). “Service Quality in Health Care.

” JAMA (281:7), pp. 661-665. Williams, C. (2009). Models for data storage and exchange, aggregate data, de-identification/re-identification. Health IT Policy Committee.