NURS-FPX 6416 Managing the Nursing Informatics Life Cycle Technology Needs Assessment Summary and Implementation Plan

Patient Safety and Healthcare Outcome Benefits

Illustrated within the context of heart failure, the value of remote patient monitoring becomes evident. Heart failure affects approximately 5.8 million individuals in the United States, with high hospitalization, readmission, mortality rates, and healthcare costs (Ong et al., 2018). Inadequate post-acute surveillance can lead to increased healthcare resource utilization due to readmissions or deteriorating patient health. Remote patient monitoring technologies offer cost-effective solutions for addressing financial sustainability concerns and enhancing patient acceptance of home-based care (Ong et al., 2018). Furthermore, Lee and Holland-Hall (2021) argue that patient portals enable patients to communicate with their healthcare providers, exchange information, and establish trust between appointments.

Changes to Organizational Information Systems

A needs assessment meeting involving nurses and healthcare professionals identified challenges within Vila Health’s existing information system. Concerns were raised about patient health being jeopardized post-discharge due to a lack of monitoring, particularly for patients with diabetes who require continuous symptom and blood sugar level tracking but find frequent hospital visits impractical. Adopting remote patient monitoring technology would not only benefit patients unable to visit regularly but also empower nurses to easily monitor their patients’ health. Patient portals facilitate communication with healthcare providers, appointment scheduling, and access to medical history and prescriptions from anywhere with internet access.

Comprehensive Project Management Implementation Plan

Goals and Milestones

As the project manager overseeing Vila Health’s information system overhaul, the implementation of remote patient monitoring equipment and user-friendly patient portals are key objectives. These technologies enable better post-discharge patient monitoring, leading to increased revenue, reduced staff burden, enhanced patient engagement, and improved health outcomes through patient portal utilization.

Process, Stakeholders, and Timeline

Several stakeholders, including the IT department, nurse informaticists, Vila Health administration, nurses, and other healthcare staff, will play pivotal roles in the RPM and patient portal rollout. The integration of patient portals and RPM technologies, along with staff training, may take up to six months for the IT department to complete. Nurse informaticists will serve as intermediaries between nurses, doctors, and the IT department. Following three months of training, a trial period will commence, during which patients will be educated on RPM and patient portal usage.