Quality and Safety Challenges of Telehealth

Quality and safety challenges have recently garnered attention due to the need to control cost, manage diseases, scarcity in healthcare professionals, etc. (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). Although many attempts are being made to address quality and safety challenges, there remains a significant problem with increasing access to care. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2008, expanded coverage to most Americans but did not improve access to care. Telehealth is the use of the electronic delivery mechanism of telecommunication to facilitate pertinent information gathering and sharing thereby making possible to give client care over a long-distance (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). Telehealth makes it so that patients can stay home and get care without having to travel to a hospital or clinic. According to Hebda & Czar (2013), “An emphasis upon keeping an aging population functional in their own homes makes telehealth an attractive tool to improve the quality of healthcare and save money.”

An improvement in the delivery of client care over a long-distance translates into a reduced duration in getting access to care. Patients will be able to get needed care at the right time, thereby preempting unfavorable health outcomes in the future. Thus, telehealth facilitates early intervention to prevent avoidable consequences in health (Hebda, & Czar, 2013).

Many Safety-net providers often need to consult with a specialist to ensure that their patients can access quality care (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). Telehealth makes continuity care possible for populations that historically, have a hard time traveling from their home to see a physician. The challenges of quality and safety are however addressed through telehealth.

Telehealth application

The use of telehealth tools can help educate the public over the internet (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). Hebda & Czar (2013) indicated that telehealth could be used for “monitoring activities, diagnostics evaluations, decision-support systems, storage and dissemination of records for diagnostic purposes, image compression for efficient storage and retrieval, research, electronic prescriptions, voice, recognition for dictation, education of healthcare professionals and consumers, and support of caregivers.” Consequently, telehealth tools usage can be applied to address quality and safety challenges.

Healthcare managers can set up a telehealth plan to educate patients about how the technology can be used to ameliorate quality and safety challenges for patients (Hebda, & Czar, 2013).

The outcome of technology implementation

The possible outcomes of the implementation of telehealth are an improvement in access to care, cost controls, quality, and safety. The utilization of this technology can help alleviate healthcare professional shortage problems since many patients can be cared for thereby optimizing resources (Hebda, & Czar, 2013). Telehealth can help improve the quality of life populations that do not have access to healthcare.

References

Hebda, T. & Czar, P. (2013). Handbook of informatics for nurses & healthcare professionals. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall