Health Care Research

Weekly Overview

Week 5

Overview

Week Five will explore the past, present, and potential future of health care research. We will discuss health care changes that have taken place over the last century and how evidence-based research has changed the products, services, and practices of health care throughout the industry. We will also look at how external influences have shaped past and current research in the health care industry.

What you will cover

1. Past, Present and Future Perspectives in Health Care Research

a. Explain how evidence-based research influences the health care industry.

1) Mobile health technology

a) Mobile apps for medical records

b) Open notes (sharing clinician notes with the patient for improved communication and transparency)

c) Electronic medical records

2) Tele-ICUs and Tele-medicine

a) Based on a study that found tele-medicine is broad and has many different definitions

b) All sought to improve outcomes by increasing access to care and medical information.

c) The purpose of tele-medicine and tele-ICUs is to:

(1) Provide clinical support

(2) Overcome geographical barriers

(3) Overcome financial barriers

(4) Improve health outcomes

3) Disease Prevention and Control

a) Promotes conversation among those in the medical field and policy makers as to how to prevent disease

b) Advancing discoveries:

(1) Prevention of chronic illness and disease

(2) Exploration of new treatments

4) Economic Impact

a) State funded research completed by medical school and teaching hospitals added almost $45 billion to economy

b) Direct impact includes institutional spending and how that money is put back into the hospital, research, patients, advocacy groups, and the community

5) Medicine/Health, Care/Health, and Wellness

a) Awareness of severe shortage of up-to-date scientific research and the subsequent need for this research

b) Positive discoveries and treatments:

(1) Adamantanoma of the tibia (rare form of cancer) in Ethiopia

(2) Introducing evidence based development for long-term health care in the Sudan

(3) Improvement in maternity care and reduction of infant mortality rates in Zimbabwe

6) Facility Design

a) Promotes patient safety

b) Decreases the risk of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI’s)

b. Compare external influences on health care research.

1) Political Influences

a) The Affordable Care Act (2010)

(1) The Affordable Care Act will expand coverage to over 30 million people

(2) Staff shortages (distribution shortfall) due to decreased government reimbursement

(3) Medical professional right of conscience: The Affordable Care Act does not protect health care employees to the degree that they feel comfortable

b) The Doc Fix Bill (April 2015)

(1) Without this bill being passed, Medicare reimbursements to physicians would have been cut by 24%

(2) The Doc Fix bill fends this action off for another year

2) Social or Public Influences

a) Advocacy groups

(1) Raising awareness

(2) Lobbying

(3) Right to Die (Death with Dignity Act)

b) Social groups

(1) Determining when people with serious illnesses need seek advocacy or support

(2) Examine how people seek advocacy or support, look at expectations of patients and caregivers

(3) Learning about how patients’ experiences and identify elements of advocacy support that are the most useful

3) Financial Influences

a) Impact of Medicare on health care and patients

b) Impacts cost of care

c) Socioeconomic factors in specific demographics

d) Allocation of funds

4) Ethical Influences

a) Balancing care quality and efficiency

b) Improving access to care

c) Building and sustaining the health care workforce

(1) Workers who are competent and compassionate

(2) Ability to practice with integrity

(3) Not being overburdened by morally distressing situations that cause burn-out or compassion fatigue

d) End of life issues

e) Allocating limited medications and donor organs