Advantages of Digital Health
Digital health is a field that integrates electronic healthcare programs and technologies of healthcare, life, and community to improve healthcare delivery efficiently and make medication highly individualized and comprehensive (Benis et al., 2021). It involves efficient communication and information technology to make it easier for individuals receiving medicinal treatment and social prescribing to comprehend their medical issues and challenges. Some of the various stakeholders associated with digital health care practitioners, researchers, and scientists with a diverse range of specialization in healthcare, technology, social sciences, global health, health economics, and information management. Telehealth, wearables, remote patient monitoring, and apps are digital health instruments that assist patients for medical reasons, gather, organize, evaluate, use medical evidence, and control consequences and other aspects of treatment quality. Nearly 73 percent of people in Australia have utilized internet facilities for studying health problems, and most of them are older individuals over 65 years of age. People want their doctors to recommend healthcare information websites (AIHW, 2020). The popular media and medical, health-care, and public-health publications have given digital health innovations huge attention. While healthcare technologies can improve medical and health treatment, there are several challenges to overcome in terms of encouraging their availability and effectiveness and controlling the delicate healthcare information created by their use. The “Australian Digital Health Agency” strives to develop Australians’ medical outcomes by providing nationwide digital health infrastructure and services. They concentrate on bringing technology and data to operate in a safe manner for patients, customers, and the medical practitioners who look after them (Digitalhealth.gov.au, 2022).
The health sector in Australia has a rich history of employing cutting-edge technologies to improve the healthcare system and its delivery. People in remote locations had access to help and emergency services due to the advent of a low-cost pedal-powered radio in 1929. This radio had been, in many ways, a forerunner to digital advancements. Electronic technology in health care might improve service quality, efficiency, and equity (AIHW, 2020). It leaves the door open for such a healthcare system whose main goal is to help individuals, families, and societies maintain and strengthen overall health by providing prompt access to the highest treatments. “My Health Record” is a highly secured digital record platform for storing medical information such as prescriptions, vaccinations and emergency contacts. Anybody with an individual healthcare identity (IHI) or Medicare in Australia can use it (MyHealthRecord, 2022). An individual is required to have a myGov account for accessing the record. The person who has the account can only see the record. As healthcare providers, any other individual who chooses to share information can also see the record. My Health Record assists individuals in navigating their health throughout their life, from infancy, through adolescence and beyond.
Other examples of digital healthcare include fitness trackers, wellness apps, sleep trackers, smartwatches and so on. Other digital healthcare examples include robotic nurse assistants, voice interfaces, paperless hospitals, medical drones, and electronic prescribing. Electronic health records (EHRs) are one of the most widely used healthcare databases. During routine practice, clinicians record routine laboratory and clinical information into EHRs as patient care records (Shearer et al., 2022). Claim databases that insurers manage for payment-related matters, patient registries, and pharmacist databases are examples of healthcare databases used in the healthcare field (Shearer et al., 2022). The healthcare databases are employed in the healthcare sector for generating real-world evidence (RWE). In the case study, John is unwilling to use his My Health Record as he is concerned about who can gain access to his data. Thus. Healthcare databases are the most efficient method to track and enhance the healthcare services’ value and patients’ well-being, which can be accomplished by showing data about the appropriateness, efficacy, and quality of healthcare services and providers available to the public. As the system evolves, more data will be accessible to drive healthcare management, policy formation, and investigation, allowing Australia’s healthcare system to grow further.
Stakeholders in Digital Health
When using digital tools both personally and professionally, nurses display behaviors that represent established professional norms. Nurses increasingly rely on digital healthcare technologies to provide safe, high-quality and person-centered care (Delaney et al., 2022). Nurses’ use of digital technologies in healthcare complies with procedural, policy, ethical, legal, privacy, and security criteria. The nurses must consider certain legal and ethical factors while accessing digital health information. Electronic health databases raise ethical concerns for healthcare professionals. It is not easy to set up a system for collecting, protecting, and exchanging health information that works. While Australia is a leader in some areas, such as building the necessary laws, digital infrastructure, and processes, there is still much work. It is mandated by the law that every service user’s health information has to be treated with confidentiality. No individual should access any service user’s health record apart from anyone caring for the patient. No individual apart from the patient care team should get access to the patient’s health record (MyHealthRecord, 2022). The privacy of the patient’s medical record is protected just the same way the medical institution’s informatics systems’ cyber security.
Breaching secrecy comes at a high price. Legal action within the institution, penalties, and disciplinary actions taken by the regulatory bodies are all possibilities. Preventing hackers from accessing medical records is a huge challenge for organizations and patients (Keshta & Odeh, 2021). Apart from that, another worrying sign is social networking. Patients’ autonomy is threatened when their health information is distributed or accessed without their knowledge due to the absence of trust in the system security that holds their information. As a result, the patients’ treatment procedure gets affected. Many users’ health records could be exposed due to human error or theft. Confidentiality and privacy, security problems, data mistakes and system implementation are significant ethical concerns that are required to be prioritized by the registered nurses (Akhter Md Hasib et L., 2022). Governments play a role in establishing policies and other mechanisms that aid in facilitating and managing digital health advancements for the advantage of customers, clinicians, and the industry.
Digital technology can improve John’s health outcomes. Telemedicine, wearable medical devices, augmented reality, and the virtual world is examples of digital healthcare technology that incorporate software, hardware, and applications. In general, digital health integrates health systems to improve machine intelligence, connected smart devices, computational analysis techniques, and telecommunication networks to assist medical practitioners and their patients in controlling ailments and health hazards while promoting health and wellness (Umashankar et al., 2022).
When physicians, patients, and families collaborate effectively, excellent health outcomes are obtained. Individuals, their families, and communities should be enlightened and encouraged so that they can also actively participate in their very own health care and impact the development of the healthcare system. Through remote consultation, diagnosis, and management, digital technology may be used to enhance access to health care through telemedicine; overcome physical or distance obstacles through remote consultation, diagnosis, and management; improve access to health care through telemedicine, and assist consumers in taking control of their health and well-being. Wearable technologies and health apps can help individuals better track symptoms and vital signs in their daily lives (Sequeira et al., 2020). Sending health event notifications to specific populations or advice and SMS reminders to people or groups are examples of ways to target communication to health or demographic groups. Thus, John’s medical conditions can be improved with the help of digital technology.
My Health Record: A Highly Secured Digital Record Platform
Service users, health personnel, local organizations, and the healthcare industry can benefit from digital health technologies that allow them to develop and distribute health-related information, medication, and healthcare. Such technologies can substantially supply health information to consumers, assistance, and social networks while improving healthcare accessibility and availability. However, in clinical settings, the adoption of digital health technology (DHT) has been unacceptably low. Despite showing considerable potential in improving patient outcomes and disease prevention, there is little knowledge of the components that lead to DHT’s restricted use (Solomon & Rudin, 2020). Social and ethical problems must be examined, such as whether an emphasis on self-management of health may marginalize specific persons or social groups. Ethical issues may impact the uptake of John’s digital healthcare. Digital healthcare provides solutions for storing, and analyzing health information, which raises concerns about privacy, data security and informed permission. In the case study, John does not want to use the My Health Record as he raises concerns regarding who can gain access to his information.
Continuous technological advancements, such as computerized medical records, telemedicine, media platforms, and other digital technologies, have raised the rate of unintended exposure to private health data. Nurses are responsible for maintaining secrecy and privacy and providing care suggestions to avoid violations (Dykgraaf et al., 2021). As a registered nurse, it is important to educate John about the concerns that he is facing regarding confidentiality and accessing personal information. Patients are often not prepared to use digital technologies. It is important to inform John that digital technology promotes patient safety. John can access medical facilities using the internet from any remote location and connect to healthcare professionals to resolve concerns. The healthcare professionals can make quick clinical decisions as the data will be stored in a safe and secured manner. one of the major initiatives for ensuring primary health data in Australia is My Health Record which can be accessed from any part of the country at any moment. The patient can only access my Health Record, which is safe (MyHealthRecord, 2022). Digital technology data is only helpful if it can be transformed into significant data while maintaining confidentiality. It necessitates the utilization of top-quality data and information standards and definitions. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare hosts the country’s online metadata repository, also referred to as METeOR (AIHW, 2022). It stores data standards for health-associated statistical assessment. As a registered nurse, it is important to inform John that several older adults in Australia rely upon digital healthcare to resolve their health issues. Nearly 69 percent of older Australians who are 65 years or older have used the internet to research medical issues (AIHW, 2020). John has to travel several miles to get to medical facilities. However, with the help of digital healthcare, he will be able to receive treatment at home. It minimizes patients’ travel times and waiting times, and the travel expenses incurred while getting face-to-face medical advice are also eliminated (Almathami et al., 2020). It allows individuals from remote locations to consult with doctors and other healthcare professionals from their homes. In this aspect, telemedicine is very important. Telemedicine in the patient’s home allows for remote health consultations, therapy, management, and evaluation, which can help patients’ health at a cheap cost (Almathami et al., 2020). Another benefit of digital healthcare is that pathology test results can be shared using eHealth pathology reports through the patient’s digital medical record. The patient can get information about the diagnosis as the reports are submitted to the patient’s medical record (Digital.health.gov.au, 2022). In My Health Record, the patient’s prescriptions, medicine and dispensations are kept in the form of an electronic summary. The failure to show up for doctors’ appointments is an obstacle to obtaining timely medical care. It also is a big source of misdirected resources and underutilized time from healthcare providers (Digital.health.gov.au, 2022).
Other Examples of Digital Healthcare
Digital reminders sent through mobile text messages are a great method to deal with this problem, particularly given that cellular technologies are widely used and accepted by people from all walks of life (Musiimenta et al., 2019). People’s adherence to drug regimens for individuals with various chronic conditions can be improved by informing them when to administer their medications, boosting attendance at routine visits, and providing effective and dynamic health data, to name a few examples. By enabling individualized contact between health personnel and users, two-way messaging frequently enhances good results. Thus, as a registered nurse, it is crucial to inform John about the utility of digital healthcare, as he is an aged person with chronic issues and requires prompt medical assistance. He resides in a remote location, and therefore digital health will be more beneficial for him as his travel time would be saved, and there would not be a delay in his treatment (Almathami et al., 2020).
References
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