Healthcare Technology Trends Benefits and Patient Outcome Example

The evolution of healthcare technology has been the corollary to rapidly advancing software and machine learning technologies. The last few decades have been marked by drastic technological improvements dramatically enhancing accessibility and quality of care through digital applications (Kichloo et al., 2020). Healthcare Technology  For example, advanced communication software that supports two-way real-time communication between patients and physicians is gradually replacing traditional onsite hospital visits. In addition, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has dramatically influenced the adoption of telemedicine and telehealth to support the management of distant patients.

With continued acknowledgment of cost-effectiveness, reliability, and the potential for mitigating the looming physician shortage, we can expect the continuation of a focused strategy to enhance telehealth application, especially to assist accessibility of care to patients in remote areas (Kichloo et al., 2020). In addition, our society’s increasing dependence on mobile technologies would also pave the way for advancing virtual models of care. For example, according to Booth et al. (2021), telehealth platforms have reduced emergency room admission by providing new avenues for nurses to conduct daily monitoring, coaching, and triage of patients with various chronic diseases.

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Additionally, mobile applications such as smartphones and remote devices enable nurses to provide distant advice on pain management to adolescents and patients with cancer. There is a great need for direct efforts to increase the engagement of healthcare stakeholders with patients and their families to improve outcomes in pain management (Rao-Gupta et al., 2018). As technology develops to facilitate data management and computer interoperability, technological applications in patient management will be adopted. For example, big data analytics would facilitate business intelligence by enabling providers to monitor disease trends, payment methods, utilization of hospital facilities, and meaningful prognostications for proactive and perspective changes (McGonigle and Mastrian, 2022). Therefore, organizations would benefit from operational and organizational efficiencies.

Challenges of Healthcare Technology

Despite the enormous benefits of digitalizing healthcare, nurses and other clinicians continue to view technology as a significant threat to patient-provider relationships and traditional hand-on care, which permits comprehensive patient assessment through physical examination and evaluation of symptoms. Additionally, some regions lack adequate internet connectivity to facilitate Telehealth. A challenge similar to network connection is inadequate technological resources to enable communication between patients and caregivers (Kichloo et al., 2020). These challenges counter the effect of Telehealth to expand health coverage and accessibility to patients in remote areas. In addition, advancement in digital technology has been more rapid than nursing as a profession can catch up with. In the United States, where informatics has its original foundations, nurse leaders are yet to enhance the digital transformation of nursing across the country (Booth et al., 2021). Generally, nurses are sluggish about adopting digital reforms. Furthermore, the lack of regulatory laws to control consumer application of Telehealth has caused hesitancy among insurers to finance healthcare services offered virtually.

Data Safety

Security poses a significant threat to patients, payers, and providers. Hospital systems are potential targets for cyber attacks. Data thieves might want access to patient files to ruin the patient reputation. In addition, criminal syndicates can employ phishing attacks to gain access to the hospital database to impede workflow, steal information, or ask for money. Hospitals can suffer major financial losses from lawsuits by information theft victims. Additionally, if patients fear security issues related to data theft, they are likely to withhold information for fear of breach of confidentiality.

Impact of Telehealth on Nursing Practice

The expanding field of telehealth would provide more opportunities for nurses’ contribution to the delivery of care through telehealth programs. Technology would facilitate all the steps of knowledge work—knowledge acquisition, processing, generation, and dissemination. Therefore, telenurses would have increased access to patient information, and they would be able to derive more formation from it than when collecting data through face-to-face communications.

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For example, home blood pressure would be documented in real-time and monitored closely and within a short time. Additionally, nurses would track the efficacy of treatment within a short time. As patients get used to the digital model of care, building interpersonal relationships with caregivers will be easy. Therefore, nurses would discover that telehealth can facilitate patient-centered care. According to Rao-Gupta et al. (2018), leveraging interactive patient care technology would increase providers’ and consumer satisfaction in pain management. Facilitating nurse-patient communication through digital technologies would open new horizons for nursing practice and increase the opportunities for improving job satisfaction.

References

Booth, R. G., Strudwick, G., McBride, S., O’Connor, S., & Solano-López, A. L. (2021). How the nursing profession should adapt for a digital future. BMJ, n1190. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1190

Kichloo, A., Albosta, M., Dettloff, K., Wani, F., El-Amir, Z., Singh, J., Aljadah, M., Chakinala, R. C., Kanugula, A. K., Solanki, S., & Chugh, S. (2020). Telemedicine, the current COVID-19 pandemic and the future: A narrative review and perspectives moving forward in the USA. Family Medicine and Community Health, 8(3), e000530. https://doi.org/10.1136/fmch-2020-000530

McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. G. (2022). Nursing informatics and the foundation of knowledge (4th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Rao-Gupta, S., Kruger, D., Leak, L. D., Tieman, L. A., & Manworren, R. C. (2018). Leveraging interactive patient care technology to improve pain management engagement. Pain Management Nursing, 19(3), 212-221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmn.2017.11.002

Healthcare Technology Trends Benefits and Patient Outcome Example