Telemedicine: Emerging Health Care Technology, Ethics, and Nursing Informatics

New health care innovations offer the advanced registered nurse an opportunity to apply emerging technologies in practice to improve quality and patient outcomes. For this assignment, research an emerging health care technology that you think has the potential to overcome current or emerging barriers to care.

Write a 500-750-word brief. Include the following:

1. Provide an overview of the emerging technology and its role/function in health care. Consider its potential for improving access to care and promoting patient safety and quality.

1. Describe ethical or legal issues that would accompany the incorporation of the technology.

1. Explain the nurse's informatics role in regard to the technology. Provide examples of the roles and job functions.

1. Outline the role of workflow analysis, human factors, and user-centered design concepts for your chosen technology example.

Introduction

Over the last three decades, healthcare professional researchers and clinicians have dedicated their time to investigating the effectiveness of advanced computer technologies and telecommunications in improving healthcare. One of the emerging technologies in healthcare is telemedicine which consists of various innovative and mainstream information technologies. This paper will discuss the technology and its effectiveness in patient care, ethical and legal issues in the use of telemedicine, roles of nursing informatics in telemedicine, and the roles of workflow analysis, human factors, and user-centered design in telemedicine.

Overview of the Emerging Technology

Telemedicine is the use of various communication and electronic information technologies to provide the necessary care services when there is a distance separating the different parties. The technology improves access to care services as it enables patients to receive care at their convenience as that of the providers. This implies that the patient does not need to take a break from their work to visit the doctor's office. Telemedicine improves the capacity of healthcare providers to take care of a lot of patients as they do not have to be physically present (Haleem et al., 2021). Technology plays a crucial role in taking care of the patients in remote areas and its positive effects are experienced in countries and areas where care facilities are unavailable and scarce. Telemedicine promotes patient and physician safety as visiting the doctor's office involves sitting in close proximity to other people and this might lead to the spread of infections. The Spread of infections puts at risk people with weak immune systems and those suffering from chronic diseases (Haleem et al., 2021). It prevents the possibility of both the patients and the physicians from contracting infections.

Ethical or Legal Issues

There are a lot of legal and ethical issues that would accompany the incorporation of telemedicine. Some of the issues that are likely to be experienced are informed consent, privacy, and social justice. Informed consent is a basic requirement in both traditional medical services and telemedicine (Solimini et al., 2021). By definition, informed consent is the communication process between the healthcare providers that requires the patients to make decisions regarding their care. All patients have the right to seek information before treatment and medical procedures. This right can be limited by telemedicine as due to lack of direct contact, the patient may not get full information regarding their condition and medical procedures. Additionally, an issue of social justice might arise as remote patients might be disadvantaged by virtual care due to a lack of access to smartphones, the internet, and other technologies that prevent people from accessing care (Solimini et al., 2021).

Roles of Nurse Informatics Technology

In regard to telemedicine, nurse informatics partners with advanced practice nurses to support the patients' information and clinical management needs. The roles of nurses in nursing informatics are data management, patient education, and care coordination. Nurses educate patients on the effective utilization of telemedicine services. It is the duty of nurses to manage data collected in telemedicine to ensure that is secure and accurate (Garcia-Dia, 2021). Additionally, nurses utilize telemedicine to coordinate care among healthcare providers.

Outline the Role of Workflow Analysis, Human Factors, and User-Centered Design Concepts

In telemedicine, workflow analysis incorporates processes such as billing, scheduling, consent, triage, structure, appointment, and documentation. Human factors such as rapport, trust, and excellent communication skills are essential in enhancing the interactions between healthcare providers and patients. Additionally, the user-centered design approach of telemedicine enables health to be inclusive and cater to the needs of the patients.

Conclusion

One of the emerging technologies in healthcare is telemedicine. Telemedicine allows for the virtual provision of healthcare services. The ethical and legal issues that are likely to arise in telemedicine are social justice and informed consent. In telemedicine, nursing informatics plays the roles of data management, care coordination, and patient education.

References

Garcia-Dia, M. J. (2021). Reimagining the role of nursing informatics. Nursing Management, 52(12), 48. https://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/fulltext/2021/12000/reimagining_the_role_of_nursing_informatics.10.aspx#:~:text=Nursing%20informatics%20specialists%20and%20APNs,in%2Dperson%20or%20virtual%20visits.

Haleem, A., Javaid, M., Singh, R. P., & Suman, R. (2021). Telemedicine for healthcare: Capabilities, features, barriers, and applications. Sensors International, 2, 100117. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8590973/#:~:text=Telemedicine%20facilitates%20access%20to%20services,a%20variety%20of%20medical%20conditions.

Solimini, R., Busardò, F. P., Gibelli, F., Sirignano, A., & Ricci, G. (2021). Ethical and Legal Challenges of Telemedicine in the Era of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Medicina, 57(12), 1314. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8705012/#:~:text=Conclusions%3A%20The%20ethical%20and%20legal,patient%20privacy%2C%20data%20protection%2C%20and