Patients that are immensely knowledgable about their health and condition are eager and motivated to accomplish something that will potentially lead to an improvement in their overall health status. For instance, if a patient who has an ulcerative colitis is well-informed about his or her dietary guidelines, patient involvement will take place. If that patient knows that a low fiber and high protein is a must, he or she will be able to self-manage and the treatment will have a more positive outcome. Therefore, patient education is extremely essential so patients can improve and ameliorate their overall health more efficiently. It requires healthcare professionals to give patients and their family necessary information and help them understand their current health and condition. Presently, with technological developments, patient education is delivered in a quicker way and provided without any difficulty. Accessible health information helps patients manage their condition and make educated decisions regarding their health. It can also reduces patient's anxiety before a procedure, reduces readmissions and unnecessary visits. This paper will address what purpose the topic serves, discuss a method such as health information technology, and experiences on patient education technology.
Purpose of Patient Education Technology
Electronic health records, mobile applications, and information accessible through computers and wireless electronics are such examples of patient education technology. Some facilities even use robots now to increase patient engagement during treatment. Patient teaching and the advancement in technologies undeniably have a great quantity of benefits. It increases patient understanding which also increases patient's participation during a medical care. A high quality teaching will build a strong bond and trust and enhance the nurse-patient or doctor-patient relationship. In the article called, "Patient education methods to support quality of life and functional ability among patients with schizophrenia: a randomized clinical trial," the authors have elaborated the study on how effective the different types of patient education on quality of life of patients with mental illness. In the study, it's not identifiable which method is more effective because majority of the patients participated; however, technology-based learning is more reliable and suitable for some patients with serious mental illnesses (Pitkänen et al., 2011). The use of computer in patient learning have positive effects on knowledge and treatment outcomes especially for patients with chronic diseases (Pitkänen et al., 2011). Patient education technology was created to improve the healthcare system and the quality of life.
Health Information Technology
Health Information Technology (HIT) is the use of wide array of electronics to save, transfer, and examine health information. HIT are used by doctors and nurses for faster and organized patient care. Computers are now predominantly used for medical charting instead of paper charting that are time consuming. In the article, "Ethical and Legal Issues in the Use of Health Information Technology to Improve Patient Safety," Eta S. Berner stated that, "health information technology was seen as a key mechanism to improve patient safety and health care quality, by improving access to needed information and reducing handwriting errors through electronic health records (EHRs), and providing clinical decision support (CDS) to reduce medication and other medical errors" (Berner, 2008, p. 243). In another article entitled, "Pharmacists and Health Information Technology: Emerging Issues in Patient Safety," Fuji and Galt discusses what HIT is and how it improves the quality of healthcare. With the use of HIT, patient safety is increasing, there is less occurrence of harm in patients, and patients are more involved in their treatment compared to standard patient education (Fuji & Galt, 2008).
Experience
Health Information Technology includes Electronic Medical/Health Record (EMR/EHR), Personal Health Record (PHR), and E-prescribing (Basics of Health IT, 2013). EMR consists of health information where doctors can share it to other healthcare professionals for better medical care. One impressive thing about EMR is that it reduces medical errors such as orders that are transcribed incorrectly. PHR is an electronically personal health record used by patients where they can manage their information. Healthcare providers can have access in it and patients have the choice who can access their information. In E-prescribing, paper prescription is necessarily not needed. Patients don't need to panic when they lose or misplaced their prescription. Doctors can communicate with the pharmacy and patients are able to pick their medicine without bringing the prescription.
I have been using Kaiser Permanente's My Health Manager for a long time now. This is Kaiser's version of personal health record that can be accessible through kp.org. With this, scheduling an appointment is made easier. I can schedule an appointment that is convenient for me and it only takes few clicks to refill and transfer a prescription. Medications can be shipped to my house and I don't even need to drive to the pharmacy to pick up refills. I can also communicate with my doctor and other department by sending them an email on the message center. In the pharmacy center, I can contact a pharmacist if I have any questions and concerns and I have an access to their drug encyclopedia as well. My Health Manager lets me view my medical information such as allergies, health summary, immunizations, ongoing health conditions, visit summary, test results, and upcoming test and procedures. What I like the most about this PHR is that any imperative information regarding health and wellness is easily accessible. There are also online programs and classes that can help me live healthier. This type of PHR provides me a vast amount of reliable knowledge and information regarding any health concern. The negative feature that I dislike is I can't view that result of my chest x-ray. I had to go to the clinic and get a copy of my result. Sometimes, it also takes more than three days to get a respond from emailing my doctor. It would be favorable and convenient if all the test results are accessible and can be downloaded, and if questions and concerns are answered within 24 hours.
Conclusion
Adding technology to the patient education makes it efficient and easier for the patients. Increased patient safety, patient compliance and involvement, improved quality of life and nursing care are some of the advantages of patient education technology. When patients easily understands the condition they are in, there's a better outcome and length of treatment tend to be shorter because patients are self-managing their health issues. Nurses are accountable when it comes to providing health education and encouraging patients to better understand their health status. Nurses must be aware that patient care technology will lead to a successful nursing care.