Final Project Submission

Jessica Ricard

Rasmussen College

August 27, 2017

Outline

Title: Use of Health Information Technology and Health Delivery in Home Health

Thesis: Home health is one of the home and community-based long-term care and support services that offer cost-effective alternatives to institutionalization. Some of the significant benefits of home health care are a choice, improved quality of life, and added satisfaction. Health information technology gets identified as essential tools that improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery and quality of healthcare.

Key Words: HIT

1. Introduction

A. The dramatic shift in demographics in America has seen the rise in the number of older people with multiple chronic conditions.

I. Most of the elderly are unable to access healthcare due to challenges such as mobility and functional impairments.

II. By meeting this challenge, home health is envisioned to create a path-way to meet the preferences, expectations, and needs of the older population

B. The tremendous benefits of health information technology (HIT) for the U.S healthcare system has led to the adoption and integration of HIT in home health.

C. Unfortunately, home healthcare faces a myriad of challenges that can get overcome through health delivery initiatives and the use of health information technology.

2. Home Health Care

A. Home health care refers to the home health care provided under the Medicare home health benefit and delivered by Medicare-certified home health agencies.

I. The services are hospital-at-home-services and physician house calls.

B. According to the United States Census, the projection of U.S residents aged 65 and above will have doubled by 2030. The older populations are the primary beneficiaries of home health.

C. Home health has several advantages such as;

I. Lower costs for services preferred by patients.

II. A more intimate physician-patient relationship

III. Improved access to healthcare for patients experiencing a variety of barriers

IV. Greater safety for frail patients who can develop complications associated with hospitalization.

D. Home health care has the potential to reduce the overall cost of healthcare and enhance the condition of life of patients and their families.

3. Use of Healthcare Delivery in Home Health

A. Most residents enrolled in home health have a myriad of challenges.

I. The problems include some of the following cerebral impairment, chronic conditions, and poverty among others.

B. The Medicare home program is utilized to enable coverage of various groups and increase the access and healthcare delivery.

C. Home health has implemented the use of multidisciplinary treatment and precautionary care teams in the delivery of care in home health.

D. Evidence-based guidelines are utilized to promote consistency and equity of attention.

4. Use of Health Information Technology in Home Health

A. Health information technology can enhance healthcare delivery and performance.

B. The potential to improve quality gets identified in the aspect of utilizing integrated databases of patients’ treatment across large populations. Consequently, it is possible to yield information on which treatment options work best in home health.

C. HIT also has the potential to advance access to care. In most cases, it is impossible for physicians to provide regular home health services. Fortunately, storing patient records in an electronic system makes it possible for doctors to communicate with their patients and assist in the management of diseases.

I. Data exchange and communication between physicians is also made possible with HIT thereby improving decision-making capacity.

D. HIT such web-based software enables agencies to work with increased efficiency and effectiveness to improve the competitiveness of home health.

References

A. Jones, S. S., Rudin, R. S., Perry, T., & Shekelle, P. G. (2014). Health information technology: an updated systematic review with a focus on meaningful use. Annals of internal medicine, 160(1), 48-54.

B. Hewitt, M., Nowak, M., & Nataraj, N. (2016). Planning Strategies for Home Health Care Delivery. Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research, 33(05), 1650041.

C. Pang, Z., Zheng, L., Tian, J., Kao-Walter, S., Dubrova, E., & Chen, Q. (2015). Design of a final solution for integration of in-home health care devices and services towards the Internet-of-Things. Enterprise Information Systems, 9(1), 86-116.