Literature Synthesis on Telehealth
Introduction
Telehealth entails using digitized devices to disseminate information and manage patients’ healthcare conditions, especially those living in remote areas. Among the commonly used devices are computers and mobile phones to reach patients and administer care to them in the comfort of their homes. Technology adoption in healthcare institutions has grown due to the benefits of technology in improving patient outcomes. Innovative leadership identifies the strengths and weaknesses of an organization and establishes the most appropriate interventions to manage the weaknesses. Due to innovative leadership, most healthcare institutions have adopted Telehealth hence reducing congestion in hospitals and the burden of travel costs that patients would incur in traveling to hospitals. Therefore this literature synthesis will discuss Telehealth from a regional, national and global perspective by analyzing themes of Telehealth that show the importance of innovative leadership, such as training, teamwork, threats, and efficiency of care delivery.
Themes that show the importance of innovative leadership
Training and coaching on Telehealth
Telehealth was not common until the late 1970s when the United States of America began utilizing telephones in communication in healthcare facilities. In North America, the increased adoption of Telehealth has exposed incompetence in healthcare staff in utilizing the technologies. Most healthcare staff in the US lack adequate knowledge of the utilization of Telehealth in care coordination and adherence to ethical requirements in the utilization of the technologies. Healthcare boards and organizations have developed strategies for countering the lack of information and skills to improve the utilization of Telehealth. Thomas Jefferson University developed healthcare training to teach clinicians the basics of telehealth utilization (Papanagnou et al., 2015). The university developed a curriculum to be used in the education on Telehealth. Therefore innovative leadership has devised better approaches to increasing competence in telehealth usage.
Innovative leadership has propelled telehealth nursing, and leadership competence has propelled the desire to certify telehealth nurses. Certain telehealth standards have been enacted to improve nurse competence in telehealth use, and the standards include certification to show the nurses have been educated on telehealth nursing. As stated by nursing organizations, other requirements include top-notch interpersonal skills and resource management knowledge (Mataxen & Webb, 2019). Telehealth nurses must have the clinical experience of up to five years, but the experience requirements vary in different states. Therefore it is paramount for nurse and administrative leaders to ensure continuity in training new nurses on the concepts of Telehealth. The leaders should be more innovative in devising better ways of training inducted nurses as technology advances for relevance and efficiency in meeting patient requirements.
Teamwork
Teamwork is paramount in the utilization of Telehealth and meets patients’ needs. Most patients attended to by telehealth nurses are vulnerable, for example, older patients and the disabled. Innovative leaders ensure effective scheduling and division of labor for ease of transitioning, thus reducing collisions and failure to attend to patients. Healthcare leaders foster teamwork by coordinating healthy relationships between short-term and long-term care nurses. There has been increased awareness of the importance of collaboration between visiting nurses; hence leaders have increased team-building activities such as simulation to foster healthy relations between the practitioners. According to the article, increased interpersonal communication is paramount for teamwork in promoting patient safety (Keiser et al., 2022). Therefore innovative leadership has promoted teamwork hence increasing collaboration between nurses and patients.
There have been projections that the patient population is great such that nurses cannot adequately meet patients’ needs. Hospitals have been congested due to improper ratios between nurses and patients. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, projections signify a possible increase in demand for nurse services due to low enrolment in medical schools and nurses’ retirement (Klingensmith & Knodel, 2016). Due to the projected demand for nurses, healthcare leaders have been innovative in encouraging inducted nurses to learn from experienced nurses close to retirement. Teamwork facilitates knowledge sharing and continuity in the administration of telehealth nursing services. Therefore healthcare leaders have encouraged veteran telehealth nurses to collaborate with inducted nurses for continuity in the administration of telehealth nursing services.
Threats to Telehealth
Several threats and challenges have been endangering the utilization of telehealth services. In the utilization of Telehealth, there is communication between nurses and patients through electronic devices whereby sensitive information such as health data is transmitted. The transfer of sensitive information is faced with the risk of cyber security threats whereby unauthorized people may hack the telehealth systems and obtain sensitive information ( Marquez et al., 2020). Healthcare leaders have gained awareness of the cyber security challenges and enacted security measures to counter the attacks. The leaders have utilized creativity to hire computer experts who can maintain healthcare systems and prevent attacks. Other measures enacted by healthcare leaders include encrypting computer devices with security features such as passwords. Therefore healthcare leaders have effectively enacted measures to counter security breaches.
A lack of awareness of patient health information policies has triggered sharing of patient information by nurses. According to HIPAA, nurses should maintain patient confidentiality by keeping patient information private and not sharing the information without consulting the patients (Mbonihankuye et al., 2019). The advancement of technology has increased the possibility of nurses sharing patient information through social networks, and patients have sometimes resorted to filing lawsuits when their privacy rights are breached. Healthcare leaders have increased measures to reduce violations of the HIPAA Act by teaching telehealth nurses about the Act and the consequences of the violation of the Act. There are provisions in different states on the penalties for breaching the HIPAA Act, including revoking licenses. Healthcare leaders have been innovative in planning forums for teaching nurses about the privacy of patient health information.
The efficiency of care delivery
The innovativeness of healthcare leaders has availed several benefits to patients and healthcare practitioners. The core goal of healthcare service rendering is to increase patient safety and guarantee patient recovery. Most patients prefer receiving care services in the comfort of their homes, avoiding the stress of traveling and hospital congestion. Telehealth nursing has availed convenience and increased patient satisfaction due to reduced stress (Gajarawala & Pelkowski, 2021). When there is a telehealth connection between patients and nurses, there is the monitoring of patients’ progress at all times, and the patients can consult physicians anytime. Telehealth reduced inconveniences when patients had to rely on traveling and spending much time and resources in seeking care. Therefore healthcare leaders have effectively heightened patient satisfaction by using technologies to link patients and physicians.
Telehealth technologies have improved health outcomes due to the incorporation of Medicaid services in rendering care. The vulnerable groups attended to using Telehealth suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity (Chuo et al., 2020). Patients with mental disorders are attended to at home; hence psychiatric nurses effectively monitor the patients and increase wellness. The Covid-19 pandemic boosted the use of telehealth technologies after it was proven how nurses effectively administered care irrespective of distance barriers due to lockdown. Leadership in healthcare institutions has promoted the adoption of Telehealth, leading to improved healthcare outcomes. Therefore innovativeness has improved care for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, the disabled, and people suffering from mental challenges.
Conclusion
Telehealth has been widely adopted due to proper leadership structures in nursing organizations and healthcare facilities. Among the benefits of Telehealth are convenience in care provision, reduced travel costs, reduced time wastage, and increased patient outcomes. The leaders have been able to overcome barriers to the adoption of Telehealth, including management of security breaches. The leaders have enacted measures to foster teamwork among veteran nurses and induct nurses to ensure continuity in the administration of care services. Training is important in equipping nurses with skills to use telehealth technologies and prevent cyber-attacks. Therefore innovative leadership has benefited care rendering and improved healthcare delivery.
References
Papanagnou, D., Sicks, S., & Hollander, J. E. (2015). Training the next generation of care providers: focus on Telehealth. Healthcare Transformation, 1(1), 52-63.
Mataxen, P. A., & Webb, L. D. (2019). Telehealth nursing: More than just a phone call. Nursing2020, 49(4), 11-13.
Keiser, M. M., Torkelson, C., Smith, L. M., & Yorke, A. M. (2022). Using Interprofessional Simulation with Telehealth to Enhance Teamwork and Communication in Home Care. Home Healthcare Now, 40(3), 139-145.
Klingensmith, L., & Knodel, L. (2016). Mercy virtual nursing: An innovative care delivery model. Nurse Leader, 14(4), 275-279.
Marquez, G., Astudillo, H., & Taramasco, C. (2020). Security in telehealth systems from a software engineering viewpoint: A systematic mapping study. IEEE Access, 8, 10933-10950.
Gajarawala, S. N., & Pelkowski, J. N. (2021). Telehealth benefits and barriers. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 17(2), 218-221.
Mbonihankuye, S., Nkunzimana, A., & Ndagijimana, A. (2019). Healthcare data security technology: HIPAA compliance. Wireless communications and mobile computing, 2019.
Chuo, J., Macy, M. L., & Lorch, S. A. (2020). Strategies for evaluating Telehealth. Pediatrics, 146(5).
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