DNUR 6211 Week 2 Assignment Healthcare Budget Request

Executive Summary

Healthcare Issue/Opportunity

HealthWays Clinic has identified a growing need for improved chronic disease management, particularly among patients with conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. They need constant medical attention for their conditions in order to not need frequent hospitalizations and emergent care services. At the moment, there is no system that would allow monitoring patients’ condition at home and see changes in their vitals beyond doctor’s appointments.

This gap reveals that there is potential of improving patient care, avoiding unnecessary readmissions and improving the overall system in delivering care. The Rural Health Delivery System has a technical solution in the form of a proposed Remote Patient Monitoring System (RPM), which means that patients can be monitored and interventions provided constantly (Acharya et al., 2023). RPM technology gives healthcare providers a means of monitoring individual’s vital signs from a distance, keep chronic disease patients in check and free up healthcare facilities.

Stakeholder Groups Impacted

Several key stakeholder groups will be directly impacted by the proposed remote patient monitoring system. The patients need close observation in order to optimize their care and prevent unanticipated situations such as hospitalization or a visit to the ER. At the moment, there is no system that would allow monitoring patients’ condition at home and see changes in their vitals beyond doctor’s appointments. Healthcare providers were also impacted by the issue as more readmission rate can lead to more workload and burnout which will directly Impact their performance. This gap reveals that there is potential of improving patient care, avoiding unnecessary readmissions and improving the overall system in delivering care (Thomas et al., 2021).

The Rural Health Delivery System has a technical solution in the form of a proposed RPM, which means that patients can be monitored and interventions provided constantly. RPM technology gives healthcare providers a means of monitoring individual’s vital signs from a distance, keep chronic disease patients in check and free up healthcare facilities. The clinic’s administration and leadership are also stakeholders, as they aim to optimize resources, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs associated with emergent care services. Additionally, family members and caregivers of patients gain reassurance and support through the enhanced monitoring of their loved ones’ health. Finally, technology vendors and payers, such as insurance companies, are affected, as successful RPM implementation could drive demand for their services and demonstrate cost-effectiveness in chronic disease management.

Stakeholder Groups Responsible for Addressing the Issue

Several stakeholder groups will play a critical role in addressing the identified healthcare issue. The CEO and CFO of the clinic to sign off on the capital investment that must be spent on the RPM system and the clinic’s financial resources will be managed appropriately. In the case of physicians and nurse practitioners, it will be necessary to coordinate the interaction with the system and introduce it into the practice of taking care of patients (Salehi et al., 2020). Observations and measurements will be collected by clinical staff from patients and appropriate actions will be taken using such data. In other words, the integration of the system into the clinic’s technological settings is guaranteed by the IT department, its successful running and protection included.

Finally, since the clinic’s requirement is to provide high patient awareness about the new service and high patients’ usage rate of the new service, the clinic’s marketing and outreach teams will lead this duty. Clinic administrators and IT specialists are crucial in selecting, deploying, and maintaining the technology, ensuring it aligns with clinic workflows and compliance standards (Salehi et al., 2020). They might, for example, oversee staff training on the RPM system and ensure data security protocols meet HIPAA requirements. These groups are directly engaged in delivering and managing care, making them essential for the successful implementation and utilization of RPM to improve outcomes for chronic disease patients.

Proposed Healthcare Product/Service

To address the gaps in chronic disease management, I propose the implementation of a RPM service. It will enable HealthWays Clinic to track patients’ vital signs that include the blood pressure, pulse rate, blood glucose level, and weight via wearable technologies and smart apps. These devices will be transmitting live information to the clinic’s healthcare providers thus allow them to diagnose patient status, and, if need be, actively manage the condition remotely.

This strategy will be useful to enhance positive effects of patient satisfaction by eliminating the incidences of complications and at the same time decrease the number of hospitalizations and admissions and hence save costs (Taylor et al., 2021). The decision to implement RPM is consistent with the current tendencies in the development of heath care services digital heath and telemedicine that adds the image of a socially responsible, patient-centered clinic to HealthWays. With such a system in place, HealthWays can provide quality services and contain cost at the same time which makes this option important for the clinic.

References

Acharya, M., Ali, M. M., Bogulski, C. A., Pandit, A. A., Mahashabde, R. V., Hari Eswaran, & Hayes, C. J. (2023). Association of remote patient monitoring with mortality and healthcare utilization in hypertensive patients: A medicare claims–based study. Journal of General Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-023-08511-x

Salehi, S., Olyaeemanesh, A., Mobinizadeh, M., Nasli-Esfahani, E., & Riazi, H. (2020). Assessment of remote patient monitoring systems for patients with type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Diabetes & Metabolic Disorders, 19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40200-019-00482-3

Taylor, M. L., Thomas, E. E., Snoswell, C. L., Smith, A. C., & Caffery, L. J. (2021). Does remote patient monitoring reduce acute care use? A systematic review. British Medical Journal, 11(3). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-040232

Thomas, E. E., Taylor, M. L., Banbury, A., Snoswell, C. L., Haydon, H. M., Gallegos Rejas, V. M., Smith, A. C., & Caffery, L. J. (2021). Factors influencing the effectiveness of remote patient monitoring interventions: A realist review. British Medical Journal, 11(8). https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051844