Use of Information Management Tools and Technologies to Monitor and Improve Outcomes

Health Care Provision is the leading role of all health Care professionals. The professionals include Doctors and Nurses with the Doctor offering treatment and prescriptions while the nurse helps the Doctor in ensuring that the patient remains in excellent condition. Other professionals in health care institutions include pharmacists who have the responsibility of giving drugs as prescribed by the doctor. In most cases, patients are required to be provided follow up services after they are dismissed from hospitals to ensure that they are progressing in the right way.

The patients might be required to keep appointments with the doctor periodically after they are dismissed so that the Doctor can see whether there is the need for further medication and or treatment. Follow up services are faced with different problems especially in the remote areas (Armstrong, & Frueh, 2017). In the rural areas, most of the patients are unable to get their way to the health facilities due to transport and financial constraints among other things. Others will feel reluctant to go for follow up appointments if they feel tired or fail to see the need for adhering to the dates. It is crucial for plans to be made to ensure that post-hospitalization follow up services are administered most efficiently to ensure the health of the patient is well monitored.

There are different types of healthcare technologies that are in existence in the modern world. Such technologies if adopted can be useful in ensuring that patients who require post-hospitalization follow up are attended even if they cannot be able to travel to the hospitals periodically (Armstrong, & Frueh, 2017). This will ensure that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is adhered to because the poor and the week can be able to gain access to healthcare services.

Issues Facing Rural Health Care Providers' Efforts to Deliver Quality Care

It is unarguably true that the environment in which health professionals provide treatment to patients determine the safety of the patient as well as the quality of care they receive. Health Care workers especially Nurses use their skills and knowledge while taking care of patients with diverse needs. In the rural areas, there are so many factors that might make it difficult for nurses to effectively assist patients in recovering from their ailments (Cuneo, 2015). The work environment in rural areas is complicated because of factors like accessibility to remote areas and the ability of patients to get to hospitals for follow up services. The environmental constraints among other issues in the rural areas lower the quality of care delivered to the patients.

Sixty Million People in the United States reside in the rural areas forming 19 % of the total population. The rural people mostly rely on farming activities and other economic activities which bring income that is not adequate to take care of their family and attend other problems like health care (Cuneo, 2015). Therefore, rural people are commonly poor and less privileged if compared to those that live in the urban areas. Very few people in the villages have any medical cover, and thus most are uninsured.

Many patients in the villages are not in a position of complying with the treatment or prescriptions they have been given. Some of them are unable to stick to the right dosage making it difficult for them to have their conditions managed. Conclusively, access to good healthcare in the rural areas is limited by lack of financial resources to pay for health services and inaccessibility to health services because of transport issues. Other problems include lack of confidence in their communication abilities with the health workers.

Use of Information management tools and technologies to monitor and improve outcomes

Different information Management tools can be used to ensure that the health of people in the rural areas is well taken care of to ensure quality services are delivered. Information management tools and technologies such as the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) can greatly help in diagnosis and treatment of diseases (Gartee, 2017). Through the use of EHR, medical errors are greatly reduced thus improves patient outcome. Some of the main reasons why the quality of patient care include the fact that EHRs provides clinical alerts and reminders thus a doctor can be able to communicate with the patient if he or she has not turned up to the facility. The fact that the healthcare professionals can receive reminders on unattended appointments lowers the possibility of patient’s mission medication appointments and follows up appointments (Gartee, 2017). New technologies that improve patient outcomes post-hospitalization in rural areas.

Through the use of the internet, electronically stored health records and mobile phones the patient in a rural setting can be able to do some activities for himself for herself. These activities may include:

1. Remote Monitoring Devices - Helpful in monitoring, managing and reporting on aspects of blood sugar level, pressure and weight. The devices send the results directly to the Doctor, and him or her then send feedback via email.
2. Use of Personalized Reminders - One of the main problem facing patients is forgetting to take their prescribed doses at the right time. The use of digital technology is used in making reminders, and therefore the patients need not be reminded by the doctor to take drugs.
3. Use of Smartphones - Doctors can be able to remain in touch with their patients, and there are applications which are helpful. There are applications which can remotely monitor health problems like the heart rate, send it to the doctor and the doctor can advise.

Conclusion

Compared to urban populations, people living in the remote rural areas are likely to have problems accessing healthcare facilities. Even with healthcare set in place, such people might not be in a position to get to the services because of lack of transport means among others as discussed. The use of modern technology offers a solution to the problems experienced by people in villages by eliminating the need of having to visit the doctor for their follow up medical appointments.

References

Armstrong, M., & Frueh, S. (2017). Telecommunications for Nurses: Providing Successful Distance Education and Telehealth. Springer Pub.

Challenges Facing Rural Health Care | AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange. (14, March 26). Retrieved from https://innovations.ahrq.gov/perspectives/challenges-facing-rural-health-care

Cuneo, T. (2015). Evaluation of Hospital Readmissions Among Older Adults: A Study of the Effectiveness of Post-Discharge Telephone Follow-Up.

Gartee, R. (2017). Electronic Health Records: Understanding and Using Computerized Medical Records.

Improving Patient Outcomes and Diagnostics with EHRs | Providers & Professionals | HealthIT.gov. (19). Retrieved from https://www.healthit.gov/providers-professionals/improved-diagnostics-patient-outcomes

Smart Homecare Technology and Telehealth. (2015). Use of Information Technology to Improve the Quality of Health Care in the United States. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360897/