Technology is expanding and information is readily available on any subject at any time. Does your leg hurt? A patient can enter a search term and then be inundated with information, about why your leg might hurt. Anything from muscle strain to bone cancer. Quite a wide variety of information generated from sources that may, or may not, be reliable. How is a person with limited or no medical knowledge supposed to navigate through this information? In order to assist people who are seeking medical information symptom checkers have been developed. These symptom checkers are self-service applications that allow a person to enter information and then generate a probable diagnosis or in some cases triage for recommended level of care (Semigran, et al., 2015). Self-service in the healthcare is an emerging field. It is expected to expand and enhance healthcare delivery. Symptom checkers have been deployed by well-trusted organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, Kaiser Permanente, and the Mayo Clinic (Semigran, et al., 2015). Many smart phone users are acquainted with several free applications available for download such as iTriage, WebMD and many more (Semigran, et al., 2015). In order to see if these self-service symptom checkers …show more content…
However, the nurse has the ability to override the algorithm result based on information the algorithm did not consider or nursing judgement, which adjusts for algorithm errors. These automated symptoms checkers have been promoted as an alternative to nurse telephone triage services (Semigran, et al., 2015). Obviously, they are less costly because a staff of registered nurses is not needed for the automated systems; but if accuracy and patient safety are at risk then it is not an appropriate alternative (Semigran, et al.,
However, there are issues with this system as well because the computer is only as smart as we allow it to be. If pharmacy puts in the computer the wrong medication or dose, or information is incorrect, the computer will still allow you to administer. It goes back to communication, knowing your patient and how important it is to still ask questions and have conversation with your patient about the medication you are about to give them. Read their history and physical to get a better idea of everything going on with your patient so we can continue to provide safe quality care.
The use of mobile technology in the healthcare industry has exploded in the last ten years. Mobile health or mHealth, provides an entire new aspect of the relationship between patients and their doctors and other medical providers. Mobile devices place important and critical information into a medical professional’s hands in real-time. Doctors can monitor a patient’s condition more frequently, allowing them to make better and more informed decisions and diagnoses.
Mhealth has reached the poorest of communities (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). More than 9 million patients email their physician in 2009 (Digital Health Care, 2010), because patients’ busy lifestyles do not allow time for an office visit for non-emergent health conditions. . In recent years, the expansion of mobile health (mhealth) technologies, including health text messaging, mobile phone applications, remote monitoring, and portable sensors, have changed the way health care is being delivered in the U.S. and globally (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Patients like the convenience of communicating with his or her physician through advanced technology.
The growth of health care activities since then has truly encouraged patients to reach for information outside the confines of patient and physician interaction. Revolutionary new technology such as cell phones and computers, as well as the development of the Internet and social media sites, has served as where a vast majority of the public finds current knowledge for their problems.
The Better Health Association is always looking for stronger ways to connect with individuals within our community. As technology has increased, individuals spend large amounts of time online or on their cell phones. Our goal is to develop an app which will allow a Better Health patient to access any time of the day 24-7. Benefits of the app will include tips on health education, which in return will allow the patient the opportunity to take preventive steps in taking care of themselves. I will deepen the leadership and management practice in order to strengthen the organization to fulfill our goals.
Use of consumer healthcare information technology through web-based applications, mobile devices, and patient portals allowed Surae Lucie to electronically view and download her mother’s healthcare information. This was especially helpful since English is a second language to her mother and the information could be viewed repeatedly over a period until her mother understood the physician’s orders of medications and compare that to what Surae Lucie’s mother was taking.
Caveat lector is a Latin phrase meaning, “let the reader beware.” Health information on the internet is growing at an alarming rate. However, some information on the internet is not accurate or current, and unfortunately, many web sites regarding healthcare offer misleading, incomplete, and incorrect information. Many consumers do not have the knowledge to judge and evaluate the quality of online information. This paper aims to discuss how the website WebMD presents information to readers. It will evaluate WebMD according to its source, where was the source obtained; type of funding, is it commercially funded or private; the validity and quality, how valid is the information and can it be verified; and privacy, is your personal information
Education of patients and families regarding the reliability of internet information is prudent. Given the enormous amount of information available via the World Wide Web, not all of which, as you illustrate, is reliable, it is of great importance that patients and families comprehend the unreliability of some of the information they may acquire. Patients who are unable to gain access to health care secondary to a lack of funds, insurance, or availability of their provider, may be inclined to review their symptoms utilizing a search engine. Moreover, patients who were incapable of accessing healthcare due to reasons other than a lack of insurance are more likely to utilize the internet to obtain health related
In the present, it is harder for doctors to leave patience uninformed with the help of Google or Web MD. Today internet has been an almost unlimited source of information at our fingertips. Sometimes people would get themselves paranoid by creating a self-diagnosis by using web MD. When a patient would go to hospitals, they ask more question and challenge doctors competence of what or why they might be diagnosed.
With the advancement of technology it is becoming increasingly easy to diagnose illnesses via the internet. According to one article written by college student Hilly Nguyen under UWIRE Text the act of self-diagnosing could potentially be harmful. While plugging in a persons sympomtons on an online symptom checker could save both time and money there are many reasons to go see a professional instead. Firstly, there are no guarentees that online resources are accurate. While some websites may be more reliable than others, many people have the capablility to post an article spreading false information about diseases. Seconly, many illnesses have common symptoms. This would mean that there is a possibility of assuming a person is experiencing a
The data associated with the utilization of the Diagnotes Platform have been provided. We intend to critically analyze the data, and establish relationships between different parameters in Diagnotes Platform. The analysis will be directed towards measuring/improving the quality and outcome of patient care which will increase patient’s acceptability toward Diagnotes and indirectly will improve the financial and operational performance of health organizations.Diagnotes, is a software platform that provide common communication platform that connects healthcare providers, physicians and patients in a secured way. Some of the features include HIPAA compliant communication, care coordination, referrals and consult, transitions of care, call center
AI is a developing field of study that attempts to recreate human intelligence through the use of a computer. The most famous demonstration of AI was the IBM created Watson who beat all the top Jeopardy players in the country. The benefits of exploring AI in health care is the ability for the computer to assimilated data quickly, and provided feedback to the end-user that is evidenced-based (Bottles, 2012). AI could be used to gather data about a patient’s symptoms and suggest both nursing and medical care. For example, an alert for the early detection of sepsis and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) has been proven to save lives since the detection of early sepsis and SIRS is so subtle (Amland & Hahn-Cover, 2014). At my organization, the sepsis and SIRS alert is used, using a programed decision support system (DDS) that crawls the EHR for documented data and values that suggest early signs of SIRS and sepsis. Using clinical criteria for the early detection of SIRS and sepsis, when 3 of 5 criteria are met, an alert is triggered. This alerts both the nurse and the rapid response team. From a personal perspective, the use of AI in health care is a bit sci-fi and scary. However, I do see the potential. Even with the amass of new technology, nurses and other health care providers still need to critically think. A computer or AI does not negate the need for the acquisition of knowledge or critical
Every day there is a constant trust adhered to many different people in the profession of Nursing—the decision of what will help patients in terms of medicine, and the confidence to make these decisions. One false act or one slight misdiagnoses of medication to a patient could be the prime factor in whether the patient lives or dies. Nurses in hospitals across the country are spread thin, and thus makes the probability of mistakes higher. If a medicinal dose is off by even one decimal a patient could die, so the only real answer is for nurses to not be afraid to ask for assistance, always follow procedure and voice opinion is they feel something is wrong.
The research done by AW shows positive results and there is a clear demand for using online services amongst patients and health providers (Refer case Exhibit 5). It is also said that many patients are comfortable searching online for health advice and using health-related websites. Anyone who has a phone, desktop, webcam and an internet connection can access this service online. The proprietary and sophisticated technology platform enables patients and physicians to communicate easily using the phone, video conference or online chat. After logging-in the physicians available are automatically matched with patient’s symptoms and needs. Thus helping patients choose the right physician as well as save time in researching and choosing a PCP. It also has convenient features like asynchronous communication or switching between online chat and phone without any time lag. Features like the prescreening tool and being able to view and sign up into a virtual queue are also very convenient and attractive. The service solves many problems for everyone involved - patients, health providers and health insurance companies.
“Computer system facilitate data collection but may increase the potential for entry of incorrect data through input errors” (Hebda, 2013, p.63). Countless errors can be influent the data accuracy and threaten the patient’s safety. Thus, organizations are implementing several measures to decrease the errors and ensure the high quality of data. Therefore, the most important two strategies that are utilized to ensure the accuracy and safety of data entered into information systems used in nursing practice are the education of personal and system checks. All employees must be educated, and education must emphasize the importance of data accuracy, potentially harmful effects of incorrect data and error corrections. The personal must be proficient with information technology and ensure that data content is accurate, complete, and concise. Furthermore, the staff must be competent in appropriate documentation guidelines and standards and practice universal language that is recognizable by all providers. Furthermore, the