Patient, Family, or Population Health Problem Solution
Mr. KM was the person who influenced this project. His being in a rural, non-compliant to the management of hypertension, and rarely visiting the hospital for checkups because of his financial position will stand to benefit a lot from the services being offered by telehealth (Kitt et al., 2019).
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Roles of leadership and Change Management
Leadership is a crucial function in healthcare and hypertension management. Leadership, especially in nursing, is responsible for controlling change and managing change when dealing with serious healthcare issues such as hypertension. Concerning telehealth, a nurse leader is accountable for providing leadership, related feedback to professional-level employees who will participate in the operations of the telehealth program for Mr. KM. When it comes to change management, a nurse leader becomes the change agent.
As leaders, nurses should initiate change and have a change management mindset (Pugh, Gallacher, & Dhaun, 2019). There is a need for Mr. KM to change his hypertension management practices to more healthy choices. This influenced the development of telehealth as the best intervention that best suits Mr. KM’s situation. In relation to the management and care of hypertension patients, nurse leaders must be well informed and be well prepared to handle some of the changes that might occur when addressing hypertension.
As a nurse, it is my role to give better care and attention to my patients. By use of telehealth makes it easier for Mr. K to access healthcare, and I can entirely focus on his patient care and satisfaction without the challenges that come with a physical setting (Tomasulo & Cortez, 2020). The ethical consideration of telehealth is the doctor-patient relationship. Mr. KM has no stable patient-physician relationship. By using telehealth, he will be able to connect more with physicians at a meaningful level.
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Strategies for communicating and collaborating with patients and family
The patient who influenced this project is Mr. KM. During my practicum interview, I gathered vital information that helped me narrow down to the best intervention for Mr. KM. First, he has no financial capability to seek the best care for hypertension, he does no means of checking his blood pressure, and he barely goes for his checkups. Second, he lives in a rural area with no access to a healthcare facility (Strassheim et al., 2018).
Third, he does not take management of hypertension seriously and does not maintain a healthy diet. Because of this input gathered on Mr. KM, I decided that the best intervention for Mr. KM was telehealth as it would help solve all the problems stated above. Telehealth is the best option for Mr. KM to manage hypertension successfully.
Communication eases the process by generating a synergy that promotes a better understanding between team members in any change process. On the other hand, collaboration ensures staff plays their role smoothly with one aim: to provide quality care to patients (Kitt et al., 2019). Communication is critical when patients transition care from one setting to another in managing hypertension patients. It allows collaboration and facilitates cooperation among healthcare professions and between families, patients, and healthcare workers.
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Fostering inclusion and diversity in caring for hypertension patients can increase collaboration and communication with patients and families. Nursing leaders must be considerate of the diversity that comes with different patients. Including their variety in treatment and management plans can increase collaboration with patients and their families (Strassheim et al., 2018). Also, about collaboration, nurses must be willing to share vital information and resources crucial in caring for patients. Failure to do this, confusion, and conflict can arise, resulting in the team falling out and refusing to collaborate and communicate.
Open and free communication should be allowed in collaboration as everyone must feel free to speak openly and directly with the nursing leaders and co-workers. Creating an environment that values honesty, constructive feedback, and open communication can encourage the team to communicate effectively ad collaborate easily. Lastly, nurse leaders must promptly communicate deadlines, milestones, and progress to all staff members to improve communications and collaboration efforts.
Analyze the impact of health policy on quality and cost of care
The Affordable Care Act is one of the policies affecting the quality and cost of care for hypertension patients. ACA subsidizes the cost of receiving care. Patients can receive treatment and care coordination programs at affordable prices with subsidized care. Policies such as HIPPA restrict the sharing of patient information (HHS.gov, 2015). Although it supports protecting patient data, it limits the quality of care provided to patients. If patients need care coordination and there is no relevant information on patients’ health, then physicians are limited to providing quality care.
Considering Mr. KM is struggling financially and has no insurance, he cannot afford the best care management for hypertension. Keeping this in mind, the Affordable Care Act allows people like Mr. KM to access subsidized and low-cost care using digital channels like telehealth. Using telehealth, Mr. KM can access specialty care for hypertension at the right time. One of the issues and concerns raised about telehealth is the issue of patient privacy. The use of HIPPA in telehealth can prevent patient information from being shared without the proper consent (HHS.gov. (n.d) 2015).
Although this serves as a disadvantage for collaboration care, this works well in preventing Mr. KM’s information from going to the wrong hands. These policies have proven to improve patient care. MR. KM will be able to conduct his blood pressure check efficiently and at the same time get educational materials on hypertension management like diet and exercise. Overall, these government policies will improve care for Mr. KM.
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Intervention to address the problem
Telehealth as an intervention will help Mr. KM to manage his hypertension better. Telehealth is the best intervention that effectively addresses hypertension by monitoring, assessing, administering, acting, and educating the patients on the best practices. All these actions can be performed under one platform the telehealth. Telehealth allows patients to assess and monitor their blood pressure, cardiac system, and mental status, crucial in managing hypertension (Kitt et al., 2019). Patients with hypertension are asked to self-monitor their BP and pulses.
Patients are advised to conduct regular clinical checkups for routine wellness and scan for vital signs that cannot be done at home (Strassheim et al., 2018). With the help of telehealth, Mr. KM can conduct most of this thing in the comfort of his house. He will only visit the hospital when need be.
Through telehealth, Mr. KM can be advised on the best medicine he can take or buy in the pharmacy. Telehealth allows him to talk with doctors and other specialists at his own time and upon his request (Strassheim et al., 2018). Telehealth educates the patient on lifestyles and behaviors such as diet modification, engaging with physical activities, and finding better ways to relax and cope with stress.
Telehealth will improve the quality of care of Mr. KM, as shown in the discussion above. Additionally, telehealth will cut the cost that Mr. KM would have used to travel to the hospital, paying for the hospital bill, consultation, and health insurance. By using telehealth, Mr. KM will save up on a lot, and the money saved will be directed to other things like buying healthy meals. Also, telehealth will enhance Mr. KM’s safety as he can receive his care at the safety of his home. It reduces the frequency of virtual and in-person patient encounters that can accelerate the spread of contagious diseases.
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How technology, care coordination, and the utilization of community resources can be applied in addressing Hypertension
Tele-health and telemedicine are technology devices that allow patients to communicate with their physicians any day at their comfort. These e-health programs store patient information, allowing doctors to create individualized care and treatment plans. Using e-health programs, patients can receive patient education about managing hypertension and monitor themselves using these programs (Strassheim et al., 2018). E-health allows coordination of care for hypertension patients. Doctors can provide clinical and health services after patients are discharged from hospitals.
Care Coordination allows continuing care of the patient that is crucial in speeding recovery. Community resources such as sport training centers enable patients to engage in physical exercises that are key in managing hypertension.
Interprofessional collaboration strategies to improve patient and population outcomes
Team-based care is an interprofessional collaboration created to improve the management of hypertension. In managing hypertension, team-based care with social workers, nurses, counselors, dieticians, pharmacists, physicians, and other specialists will be created to allow interprofessional collaboration to improve patient outcomes (Rehman et al., 2018). Each member of the team-based care will have a unique role to help patients manage hypertension. For example, the dietician will help create meal plans and diet to reduce low hypertension.
A specialist like a cardiologist will help monitor the cardiac system of the patients. The pharmacist will be involved in prescribing and administering drugs. The nurses will monitor changes in BP, vital signs, and other related signs.
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Reference
HHS.gov. (2015). The HIPAA Privacy Rule. https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/forprofessionals/privacy/index.html
Kitt, J., Fox, R., Tucker, K. L., & McManus, R. J. (2019). New approaches in hypertension management: a review of current and developing technologies and their potential impact on hypertension care. Current hypertension reports, 21(6), 44
Pugh, D., Gallacher, P. J., & Dhaun, N. (2019). Management of hypertension in chronic kidney disease. Drugs, 79(4), 365-379.
Strassheim, D., Karoor, V., Stenmark, K., Verin, A., & Gerasimovskaya, E. (2018). A current view of G protein-coupled receptor-mediated signaling in pulmonary hypertension: finding opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Vessel Plus, 2.
Tomasulo, J., & Cortez, P. (2020). The Role of Leadership in Change Management. Retrieved from https://alignorg.com/the-role-of-leadership-in-change-management/
Rehman, H., Kamal, A. K., Morris, P. B., Sayani, S., Merchant, A. T., & Virani, S. S. (2017). Mobile health (mHealth) technology for managing hypertension and hyperlipidemia: slow start but loads of potential. Current atherosclerosis reports, 19(3), 12
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