W8-HP Discussion Response

Great post! I agree with you on the numerous challenges that Covid-19 has presented. These challenges continue to manifest in all sectors, including the health industry. The requirement for social distancing has forced the health care players to adopt new styles of delivering care. The shift requires the cooperation of patients for a healthy population. However, the shift towards telehealth is an opportunity for healthcare providers to test their preparedness for such calamities and troubleshoot their current models. However, another challenge that is related to telehealth during the Covid-19 pandemic is the wide digital divide. Telehealth is dependent on internet connectivity. Various factors, such as low economic status, being a minority, and having lower levels of education, affect the digital divide (Nittas & von Wyl, 2020). The pandemic negatively affects economic status due to slowed economic activities. Thus, the number of patients who benefit from telehealth service delivery has reduced significantly.

In addition, the lack of preparedness among healthcare providers to make this shift also highlights potential difficulties. Patients cannot access care from the providers as they lack sufficient resources to adopt various telehealth models (Rao, 2015). While other facilities remain afloat due to the adoption of telehealth, some are experiencing difficulties during this period. The covid-19 pandemic highlights the need for hospitals to readily embrace new technologies that ensure delivery of care. Regardless, the journey towards seamless delivery of care through technology is characterized by learning curves. Overcoming the challenges requires sensitization of patients, training of staff members, and allocation of sufficient resources.

References

Nittas, V., & von Wyl, V. (2020). COVID-19 and telehealth: a window of opportunity and its challenges. Swiss Medical Weekly.

Rao, G. H. (2015). Integrative approach to health: Challenges and Opportunities. Journal of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine, 6(3).

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W8-HP Discussion Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges in a variety of settings, especially in the healthcare industry. This global emergency has risen the use of telehealth and telemedicine. Telemedicine helps provide patient-centered care, reduce healthcare costs, save lives, and improve patient’s health. Patient-centered care is the goal throughout the world. When a patient is cared for in the home through technology, everyone wins. Telehealth allows checking patients through wireless connections using the internet, videoconferencing, and wearables; doctors or nurses can monitor a patient across the city or the world. The importance of telehealth is significant for delivering timely care over distance has become increasingly important as the world’s health care needs have become overwhelmed by a significant increase in the global level of chronic disease. In the United States, more than 70% of deaths are associated with chronic diseases, and approximately 75% of annual health care expenses are used on persons with chronic conditions (Dinesen et al., 2016). The TTRN (Transatlantic Telehealth Research Network) was established in 2012 to link major institutions in the United States, Denmark, and the European Union. The TTRN aims to develop cutting-edge telehealth research and innovation within telehealth that can be translated into practice and rapidly scaled up (Dinesen et al., 2016). The 2 main aims of TTRN were to promote telehealth implementation and presenting a personalized global agenda for telehealth to be used for chronic disease management.

Multiple studies have found savings associated with telehealth application for home monitoring when applied to heart failure patients. A set of recent studies that compared telehealth to traditional outpatient care recorded savings estimates ranging from 17% to 75% (Dinesen et al., 2016). Telehealth is becoming popular in treating chronic diseases. It is also useful in maintaining continuity of care, decreased hospitalization, improved patient satisfaction, improved patient compliance with treatment plans, and improved quality of life.

Despite being extremely useful, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, reimbursement is still an issue for proper utilization of telehealth at the global level. The financial sustainability of telehealth models of care has been one of the main challenges, particularly in the United States, where—despite the intent of the Affordable Care Act (Dinesen et al., 2016). ACA reimbursement has been and continues to focus more on paying for care processes that occur within healthcare facilities rather than care processes that affect patient outcomes (Dinesen et al., 2016).

Reference

Dinesen, B., Nonnecke, B., Lindeman, D., Toft, E., Kidholm, K., Jethwani, K., Young, H. M., Spindler, H., Oestergaard, C. U., Southard, J. A., Gutierrez, M., Anderson, N., Albert, N. M., Han, J. J., & Nesbitt, T. (2016). Personalized Telehealth in the Future: A Global Research Agenda. Journal of medical Internet research, 18(3), e53. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.5257