Telehealth Essay Case Study
Telehealth Essay Case Study
- Examine concepts such as equity, respect, self-determinism, health literacy, cyclic disadvantage, and healthcare disparities among marginalized populations or groups and how they affect patient outcomes.
The concepts of equity, respect, self-determinism, health literacy, cyclic disadvantage and health care disparities among marginalized populations have an effect on patient outcomes. Firstly, health equity entails ensuring that every person has a chance to be as healthy as possible. However, factors such as lack of resources and discrimination can hinder health equity by preventing an individual from achieving his/her best health. Secondly, respect entails creating a healthy environment in which individuals feel that they are cared for, and that the attending medical personnel are committed to service, collaborative and engaged. Within a culture of respect, providers perform better, display greater resilience and are more innovative. The lack of respect can undermine performance and stifle teamwork among the providers thereby negatively affecting patient outcomes (Milstead & Short, 2019).
Thirdly, self-determinism is the understanding that circumstances or events are the result of a prior event. A patient who practices preventive health and adopts healthy behaviors as recommended is able to enjoy good health and avoid opportunistic infection. Telehealth Essay Case Study Fourthly, health literacy is the degree to which an individual has the capacity to obtain, process and understand the basic health information required to make the appropriate health decisions. Individuals with low health literacy are unlikely to make the appropriate health decisions, and this would have a negative effect on patient outcomes. Fifthly, cyclic disadvantage involves intergenerational transmission of disparities, such as poverty. Passing across disparities results in the affected generation being disadvantaged in health condition and outcomes. Finally, health disparities are prevented differences in burden of opportunities, violence, injury and disease to achieve optimal health. These disparities existing among marginalized populations, and this has a negative effect on their efforts to achieve optimal health (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2020).
- Compare and contrast how each patient in the video may benefit from telehealth services and the ethical considerations from the viewpoint of the nurse.
Both Mr. Kasich and Mr. Lane would benefit from telehealth services and the ethical considerations. Firstly, they would benefit from the telemonitoring device that remotely monitors their vitals so that there is an awareness of their current health condition. This is significant as they suffer from chronic health conditions that can only be managed so that monitoring helps in determining when an intervention is necessary and what intervention can be applied to achieve the best outcomes. This is especially important for Mr. Kasich who lives in a remote area 40 miles away from the closest health provider. Secondly, they would benefit from staying away from the hospital so that they can continue with their lives even as their medical conditions are managed. Mr. Kasich can continue staying at home with his wife while Mr. Lane can continue working as a long haul truck driver. Both patients would be away from the institutional setting (McGonigle & Mastrian, 2018). Thirdly, they would benefit from access to a specialist even if one is not available in their immediate area. Telemonitoring allows for distance consideration to be eliminated so that they are able to communicate with specialists when required even as their conditions are monitored. Finally, it allows them to save on health care costs as they do not have to visit medical facilities to monitor their vitals (Rivas & Wac, 2018).
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- Propose barriers that must be removed to achieve well-being, sufficiency, and healthcare access for all.
There are four barriers that must be removed to achieve wellbeing, sufficiency and healthcare access for all. Firstly, there is a need to ensure that insurance companies cover the cost of telehealth. Some telehealth services are not covered so that patients must make out of pocket payments. This is a barrier as patients who are concerned about costs they incur may opt away from telehealth in order to avoid the additional out of pocket payments. Secondly, telehealth requires a large initial investment to set up the technologies and equipment. This large initial investment is a barrier as it requires capital commitment that can be spent on other competing health care concerns (Rivas & Wac, 2018). Thirdly, there are security concerns as personal health data is electronically transmitted and there is always a possibility that the data could be intercepted. Finally, there are technological limitations as remote monitoring is incomplete such that not all visits can be remote. Patients still have to visit medical facilities for things that require advanced technologies and hands-on approach such as diagnoses, blood work and imaging tests. This limitation must be addressed to achieve ‘complete’ telehealth (Gogia, 2019).
[MUSIC] Mr. Kasich is a 77-year old who was recently taken to the emergency room after he fell when trying to get out of bed. There, he was found to have a blood glucose level of 35 milligrams per deciliter and was diagnosed with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypoglycemia despite many years of well-maintained the blood glucose levels. After further assessment, Mr. Kasich was transferred to a medical room in the hospital. His background includes diagnosed with type two diabetes mellitus, advanced congestive heart failure and lung cancer. Has Medicare parts A and B. Lives with wife in a remote area that is 40 miles from the closest healthcare provider. Is proficient using his home computer. Mr. Lane is a 42-year old who was admitted for exacerbation of heart failure. His background includes has diabetes mellitus type two. Is a long-haul truck driver with a large trucking company. Is privately insured. Is single and primarily lives in his truck. Both Mr. Kasich and Mr. Lane are going home with telehealth consisting of a telemonitoring device that transmits weight, blood pressure, blood glucose levels and pulse oximetry to a remote telehealth nurse. Even though the use of telehealth does not often include hands on interaction, the goal of keeping patients out of a hospital is consistent with quality nursing practice. Telehealth applications are designed to enhance the patient experience and improve clinical outcomes while providing care for patients in their home environment rather than an institutional setting. Telehealth supports self-care by empowering patients, which is a central tenet of nursing practice.
Instructions
Review the case scenario above and address the following:
- Examine concepts such as equity, respect, self-determinism, health literacy, cyclic disadvantage, and healthcare disparities among marginalized populations or groups and how they affect patient outcomes.
- Compare and contrast how each patient in the video may benefit from telehealth services and the ethical considerations from the viewpoint of the nurse.
- Propose barriers that must be removed to achieve well-being, sufficiency, and healthcare access for all.
