DNP 805 Emerging Technologies

Sample Answer

Introduction

The current world witnesses a use of a wide range of health technologies to meet the health needs of the diverse populations. Health technologies have resulted into a number of health outcomes that are beneficial to health providers, patients, and health organizations as a whole.

Health technologies have led to then improvement in the costs incurred in organizations. This can be seen in the automation of organizational processes such as record keeping with the use of electronic health records (Rangarajan, 2016). Automation of health records have led to easy retrieval, analysis, and use of patient data in the provision of the needed care.

Health technologies have also enhanced the safety and quality of care offered to the diverse populations. This can be seen in the reduction in medical errors with their use alongside promotion of continuity of care in the clinical settings.

Health technologies have also enabled health organizations to address problems that face them. This includes effective management of human resources, scheduling, budgeting, and coordinating care services. Therefore, the advent of new technologies in healthcare have had a positive impact on the safety, quality, cost, and efficiency of care.

Clinical Problem

A significant proportion of the population in America lives in the rural areas. The rural areas are often far from well-developed healthcare systems. The existing healthcare systems in these settings do not have the modern infrastructure to address their health needs. This predisposes the rural dwellers to significant health inequalities.

This can be seen in their challenges in accessing their needed quality, accessible, quality, and affordable care (Fairchild et al., 2019). The rural dwellers have to travel miles to access their needed specialized care. In some cases, this becomes a challenge to the minority populations who might be considered as low-income earners in the society.

They also have to pay out of the pocket in order to access care from specialists in cases of complex health problems. These experiences form part of the factors that contribute to health inequalities between the urban and rural dwellers, hence, the need for the adoption of a responsive strategy to address it (Fairchild et al., 2019).

As shown earlier, the rural dwellers have to incur costs in travelling to the urban centers to seek the care that they need. Some of them also have to pay for specialized care due to low insurance coverage among them. The distant location of the rural areas from the functional healthcare systems also implies that there is low level of awareness on issues related to health among the rural dwellers (Jolly, 2019).

This translates into poor or lack of knowledge on healthy lifestyles and behavioral changes that the populations need to embrace for their health and wellbeing. In most cases, health promotion activities do not reach these regions due to challenges such as inaccessibility and limited utilization of the available healthcare technologies.

Consequently, adverse health outcomes are likely to be reported in these settings. They include poor health outcomes among them, low health seeking habits, and increase burden of the disease due to their enhanced vulnerability to a wide range of health problems (Fairchild et al., 2019).
Technology to Solve the Problem

Tele-health or telemedicine is one of the health technologies that can be used to solve the issue of health inequalities among rural dwellers in America. It entails the use of telecommunications technologies to increase remote access to care. Patients or populations can access the care that they need using their mobile phones or computers (Myers, 2019).

An example of telehealth innovation that has enhance the access to care among the rural dwellers is Intermountain. It is used in Utah and Idaho where patients rural settings can connect with their healthcare providers without having to travel to meet them. Patient rooms have televisions and cameras that enable telehealth care.

Health specialists can therefore communicate directly with the healthcare providers and patients in the rural settings. Through this, costs that could have been incurred seeking specialized care are reduced.

As shown earlier, the use of telehealth enables healthcare providers to communicate directly with their patients. They obtain subjective data that enables them to evaluate the effectiveness of the care that they give to them.

The healthcare providers in the remote areas can also collaborate with specialists in the determination and implementation of the care that they need for their patients. Telehealth innovations can also be used as source of health education for the patients. Patients can obtain vital information concerning effective management of their health problems using the system.

Similarly, specialists can engage in health education with their distant patients using it. This promotes lifestyle and behavioral change among those at risk. Patients can also use the technology to schedule clinical visits, undertake medication refill, and seek any clarifications from their providers of care (Baldwin, 2019). Therefore, these benefits result in the elimination of the existing barriers to healthcare among those living in rural areas.

Theory to Guide the Presentation

The theory of change by Kurt Lewin will guide the presentation. According to Lewin, change is a process that occurs incrementally. It is not sudden since the adopters of the change agent have to change their perceptions and behaviors concerning the change.

The implementers of the change should ensure that all the restraining forces are addressed for successful implementation (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). This entails adopting measures that will ensure behavioral modifications among the adopters. For example, they must be made aware of the uncomfortable situation that they are experiencing.

They should then be assisted in exploring the ways in which the situation can be addressed. Once the adopters are ready to embrace the change, driving forces should be increased to ensure that the change becomes inevitable. Therefore, measures that sustain the adopted change should be embraced.

This includes motivating the adopters to implement the change in the long-term such as rewarding and providing regular feedback on the progress of the adoption of change (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016).
Kurt Lewin conceptualized that change occurs in a series of steps. The steps include unfreezing, changing, and refreezing.

Unfreezing is the first phase in the implementation of the change. The adopters in this stage must be prepared to adopt the change. There is a need to break the existing status quo prior to coming up with a new way of doing things. An effective way of breaking the status quo is by creating awareness among the adopters on the ineffectiveness of the existing methods.

In this case, health organizations in the rural settings must be made aware of the challenges the patients go through and the need for a new way of providing care to them (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). Through it, they become aware about the need for change in their traditional ways of doing things. Changing is the second step where adopters or organizations move to a new state of doing things.

There is gradual adoption of the change. However, adopters experience uncertainty with the change, which increases the need for the provision of adequate information and support for successful implementation of the change. The last step is refreezing. In this stage, the focus of the adopters shifts to stabilizing the change.

The aim is to prevent them from going back to their traditional behaviors (Cummings et al., 2016). Therefore, constant support, rewards, and feedbacks should be provided to increase the relevance of the change.

Applicability of the Theory

The theory is applicable to the problem of focus in this presentation due to a number of reasons. Firstly, the problem can be addressed with the use of incremental interventions. The proposed solution entails the use of telehealth to address the issue of health inequalities among the rural dwellers in America.

The solution cannot be implemented without active involvement of the stakeholders. As a result, the incremental focus of change in the theory makes it suitable for the problem. The other reason is the long-term focus of the use of theory in practice. Lewin’s theory of change aims at ensuring sustainability in the interventions that are adopted in an organization.

It ensures that there is a long-term use of behaviors and practices that will address the identified social or organizational issue. Consequently, the use of the theory will ensure that the adopted solution is sustainable in meeting the needs of the vulnerable populations in the rural areas.

The last reason for the applicability of the theory to the problem is its association with minimal resistance to change. The theory encourages adequate preparation of the adopters of change (Cummings et al., 2016). Therefore, the proposed solution will be adopted with ease due to the adequate preparation of the patients and healthcare providers for its use.

How Technology will Improve the Problem

The use of telehealth will improve the issue of health inequalities among the rural dwellers in the US in a number of ways. It will reduce the costs of healthcare that the patients incur. This is attributed to minimization of travels to seek specialized care among this population.

The technology will also result in reduction in time wasted in seeking care. The patients will be managed in remote healthcare centers, thereby, limiting time spent in seeking specialized care (Sundstrom et al., 2020). It also eliminates evident barriers to care among this population. Some of the barriers such as the lack of specialists in their settings will be addressed with the adoption of the solution.

There is also the aspect of patient-centeredness with the use of the technology. The specialized treatment that patients receive using telehealth is individualized, hence, patient-centeredness. The possibility of patient empowerment is also increased with the use of telehealth. This can be seen from the incorporation of other services such as health education for the patients with the use of the technology (Sundstrom et al., 2020).

Strengths of the Technology

The use of telehealth improves access to care by the rural dwellers in the state. The patients can access the care they need irrespective of their distance as well as cost of care. It also improves the quality of care. Patients can access specialized treatment that would have been impossible in their settings.

This is attributed to the involvement of specialists in the provision of care (Christensen & Bezyak, 2020). There is also active collaboration between the healthcare providers, which improves the quality of care. The technology also reduces the overall costs of care incurred by the patients. For example, it eliminates the need for travel to urban centers for specialized treatment.

The patients are also highly satisfied with the use of telehealth. This can be attributed to the constant interaction that the patients and specialists have with the use of the technology. The patients are also satisfied with the quality and coordination of care among the providers.

Healthcare providers are also satisfied with the use of the technology (Christensen & Bezyak, 2020). It minimizes the cost and time wasted in travelling to the rural settings to assess the patients. The active engagement with their patients also promote satisfaction among them.

Weaknesses of the Technology

The use of telehealth however has some limitations. It can be expensive to health organizations to implement its use. This can be seen from the high cost of acquiring and installing the technology for use in rural settings. Patient satisfaction is promoted through face-to-face interaction with the healthcare provider.

Some patients might not express some of the health concerns with the use of the technology when compared to the physical interaction. As a result, telehealth eliminates therapeutic benefits of provider-patient face-to-face relationship (Christensen & Bezyak, 2020). Not all the health problems can be addressed using telehealth.

Some health issues can only be diagnosed accurately after a physical examination of the patients. Thus, telehealth does not fit to all the health issues affecting the rural populations. Lastly, the use of telehealth requires technical training for its users including the patients and healthcare providers. This might be expensive due to the need for regular training of these personnel on the use of new telehealth technologies (Cummings, 2019).

References

• Baldwin, E. (2019). The Impact of Telehealth on Rural Cancer Care A Review of Current Practices and Guidelines.
  
• Christensen, K. M., & Bezyak, J. (2020). TELEHEALTH USE AMONG RURAL INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES.
  
• Cummings, E. (2019, August). Barriers to Telehealth Uptake in Rural, Regional, Remote Australia What Can Be Done to Expand Telehealth Access in Remote Areas?. In Digital Health Changing the Way Healthcare is Conceptualised and Delivered Selected Papers from the 27th Australian National Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2019) (Vol. 266, p. 174). IOS Press.