Telehealth: Review of Literature. Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay

Telehealth: Review of Literature
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Telehealth: Review of Literature
Introduction
The advancement in technology has led to the growth of the telehealth industry. More health providers continue to use telecommunication technologies for healthcare. It is used to provide services such as remote patient monitoring and clinical care. Telehealth enables physicians to offer specialist care from remote locations and broken the traditional geographic boundaries. Many patients now continue to receive virtual visits from physicians. Telehealth has helped reduce healthcare costs for many patients as they don’t have to visit a physical hospital. Also, health care providers can increase access to medical care. Telehealth helps to ensure high-quality patient care. This because health providers can frequently monitor the conditions of patients suffering from chronic illness. Advanced technologies such as video conferencing and remote patient monitoring also help providers' better care for those in intensive care units (ICU). The various telehealthcare technologies help ensure health providers aren't overwhelmed by the number of seriously ill patients. It also helps in catering for patients in areas with limited healthcare workers.
Notably, over the years, numerous researchers and scholars have conducted studies on the effectiveness of telehealth. The studies seek to determine the impact it has had on public health on various populations. Therefore, plenty of studies exist that cover the efficiencies of the several technologies used in telehealth. This research also helps physicians, clinicians, decision-makers to explore more innovative ways of using technology to enhance patient satisfaction. With the continued increase of chronically ill patients across the globe, patient care continues to be critical in healthcare systems. The effectiveness of telehealth will help prolong the lives of many patients with terminal illnesses. One aspect of telehealth research is the heterogeneity present in its studies. They differ in terms of setting, type of technology, expected results or clinical indication. Therefore, a comparison of various research becomes a challenge due to the inherent diversity.
This paper seeks to examine 5 telehealth related articles. It looks at the contribution of the research to the field of telehealth. Then identifies any gaps which can be used for further research.
“Telehealth: Mapping the Evidence for Patient Outcomes From Systematic Reviews” by Totten, M., et al. (2016).
This article uses systematic reviews to look at the body of evidence available in the telehealth industry to support contemporary practice and policy decision making. It also looks at the evidence gaps which call for further research. An extensive research process is necessary to present sufficient evidence to support a policy decision. Various stakeholders are involved in the telehealth process which includes insurers, federal policymakers, and healthcare institutions. This article established an inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine the studies necessary to influence decision making.
Purpose
The core focus of this brief is to provide stakeholders a review of the large body of work on telehealth. This literature highlight the clinical outcomes of telehealth interventions. This helps them make informed decisions that will enhance the effectiveness of telehealth interventions.
Sample
The searches targeted published literature drawn from telehealth organizations and government agencies. More than 1400 literature was collected and subjected to a strict and rigorous criterion. This approach yielded 58 relevant articles that met strict standards. The criteria ensured that only literature that would support policy practice and decision making relating to telehealth was used. The other reviews were excluded on grounds such as using mixed interventions which made it difficult to assess the impact of only telehealth methods. A clear definition of telehealth ensured that only interventions that involved technology use were considered.
Research method
The study uses evidence maps to show the impact of telehealth interventions on clinical outcomes. The evidence maps to aid in assessing the quality of evidence present in literature. Also, they help isolate any literature gaps which provide areas for further research.
The graphics in evidence maps present the major characteristics of the evidence collected from the systematic reviews. Bubble plots are also used to highlight the distribution of evidence-based on such parameters as the volume of reviews or patients.
Data collection
To prepare the article interviewed six key informants that are well-versed with the policy and practice of telehealth. The informants helped identify the current telehealth practices and policies. Also, they provided any research gaps that would be vital for stakeholders. These expert opinions helped form the body of knowledge necessary in presenting the evidence maps. The interviews with the KI revealed that the significant body of telehealth literature lacked sufficient quality to help stakeholders’ decision making. Also, to encourage more investments, the body of literature should provide more details on the use of telehealth. Enough evidence should be provided on the settings and patients that respond best to the use of telehealth.
Research design and quality
The research was based on systematic reviews to assess the clinical outcomes of telehealth interventions. Systematic reviews will help policymakers and stakeholders draw credible conclusions from a vast body of literature. Individual studies alone are insufficient in determining the effectiveness of telehealth interventions. This approach helps the evidence maps highlight the areas adequately addressed in the primary literature and the areas which require further studies.
Findings
The systematic reviews showed that remote patient monitoring has the most significant positive outcomes. Telehealth interventions produced benefits when used for monitoring patients with chronic illnesses such as respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Also, telehealth had a positive impact on counseling and psychiatric services. It helped reduce hospital admission rates and increased the lifespan of many patients. Overall, telehealth improved the quality of patients' life. The bubble and intersection plots helped determined the benefits enjoyed for clinical focus areas. For example, it was determined that areas such as surgery, premature births and ICU benefit least from telepath. While diabetes, behavioral health, and chronic illnesses benefitted the most. Using telehealth for physical rehabilitation had a mixed result.
Further analysis of bubble plots also showed the extent of use for telehealth. For example, evidence showed that a significant percentage of studies and patients used telehealth for counseling and communication; and remote patient monitoring.
The systematic reviews helped categorize telehealth topics into three. First, some topics have been adequately researched to the extent of supporting informed policy decisions. This means that any future research of telehealth will most likely be consistent with the results of the present studies. Such areas include remote patient monitoring for patients suffering from chronic conditions. The focus in these areas should be to promote the broader implementation of telehealth. Second, these topics have sufficient evidence but still require further research to establish a valid conclusion. For example, telehealth studies involving the child and maternal health; ICU and surgery; and consultations. The third category involves topics with insufficient primary research and so lacks evidence to support any policy decision. The research in these areas is inconclusive and a more comprehensive study needs to be conducted. These include areas such as dealing with severe pediatric illnesses.
The literature map in this article highlights the complex nature of patient care. It shows the various factors which affect their care as the specific care setting of a particular patient. Thus, for any telehealth study to be considered adequate, it must involve a large number of participants. This way sufficient insights can be gained from the complex system of patient care. Therefore, the evidence map in this article has helped create a research agenda that will address any gaps in telehealth. One identified gap is the role of telehealth in an increasingly value-based healthcare model today. The studies need to be conducted on the specific input of Telehealth in the quality of clinical outcomes.
“Telehealth and patient satisfaction: a systematic review and narrative analysis” by Kruse, C., et al. (2017).
Telehealth continues to be increasingly used to manage patient care. The aim is to offer high-quality care services. Patient satisfaction is a pertinent issue in American healthcare systems. It’s a reliable measure of the quality levels of healthcare systems. Therefore, one way to determine the effectiveness of telehealth is to assess the patients’ level of satisfaction. Patient reports using telehealth can be used to look at whether an individual’s care expectations were met.
Purpose
The primary objective of the paper is to show the relationship between efficiency and effectiveness of telehealth to patient satisfaction. The patients' needs will always be the core concern of all healthcare providers. So, it's essential that healthcare providers continuously review whether telehealth is having the desired impact on patients. Determining the effectiveness of a technology-based model will help providers develop more innovative solutions to enhance patient care. A high number of happy patients means that the telehealth system is working and is effective. Therefore, this article reveals the links between patient satisfaction and telehealth.
Sample
The search was conducted on PubMed and Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature which produced 2193 articles. Using the inclusion and exclusion criteria the literature sample size was narrowed down to 44 articles. Observations were based on the screening criteria of satisfied which analyzed the level of patient satisfaction. While effective and efficient analyzed the impact of telehealth on clinical outcomes. An affinity matrix was used to indicate the number of occurrences.
Data collection
Data was collected from PubMed and CINAHL. The inclusion criteria were articles that contained studies of patient satisfaction. Analyzing the articles helped identify effectiveness and efficiency as the key terminology used to describe patient satisfaction in many of these publications. An extensive systematic review was conducted to ensure the selected articles were bias-free and adequately covered the theme. Individual observations helped compile similar data for analysis.
Findings
Despite telehealth removing geographical barriers, there has been significant resistance. However, the effectiveness of telehealth has enabled patients particularly those elderly to embrace the change. The reviews have identified some of the factors that make telehealth ...