NR 506 Policy Priority Issue: Telemedicine

NR 506 Policy Priority Issue: Telemedicine

Chamberlain College of Nursing NR 506: Healthcare Policy

Policy Priority Issue: Telemedicine Telehealth and telemedicine are relatively new terms in nursing and in healthcare overall. “Telehealth refers to a wide range of range of health services that are delivered by telecommunications-ready tools, such as the telephone, videophone, and computer.”(McGonigle & Mastrian, 2015) The telephone has been used to communicate healthcare needs and instructions for quite a while now, but it is as technology advances that newer, more in-depth methods of communication are occurring. The use of HealthSpot kiosk, for example, has a web cam service with blood pressure cuF, stethoscope, and opthalmoscopes,and a number of items that you would ±nd in a regular doctor’s visit. This allows better healthcare access for remote locations and rural populations. My policy priority issue focuses on bringing telehealth and telemedicine to patients in other states from the primary facility. There are many instances where patients need access to a facility in another state, but do not have the means to travel frequently for follow-up care, smoothing out the process of telemedicine and telehealth to ensure that the individual state nurse practice acts and state licensures are not an issue in providing the best care possible for patients from any state. This paper will attempt to give a brief explanation of telemedicine use in healthcare today, what laws and regulations need reformation, and how to start the reformation process. Problem Identification As telemedicine is a relatively new advancement in healthcare, there are a number of regulatory and financial issues that come to light as telemedicine becomes more and more prevalent and trusted. According to an article citing the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) there is a challenge in that some insurance companies will not reimburse for
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APPLICATION OF THEORY 3 telemedicine visits as the companies feel they will lose money due to the availability of a wider range of providers with telemedicine, but it is felt that this will change over time as telemedicine becomes a larger part of the healthcare world of today. () Staffing It is vital for organizations take this theory and understand that investing in human capital, while requiring significant financial commitment, it does save costs in a lon……………..