Healthcare Information Technology Trends

Beks, H., Healey, C., & Schlicht, K. G. (2018). “When you’re it”: a qualitative study exploring
the rural nurse experience of managing acute mental health presentations. Rural And
Remote Health, 18(3), 4616.
This article explores the experience of rural nurses in the management of mental health.
The rural setting does not have sufficient mental health facilities to treat patients, and therefore
they rely on emergency departments to provide care to clients with psychosis. The nurses
stationed at the emergency care unit sometimes do not have specialized knowledge to handle
psychotic patients due to a lack of preparedness, training, and skills. This study also explored the
use of technology in the management of psychiatric patients in rural areas. The research
methodology involved data collection from a sample of nurses who did not have specialized
training to handle mental health. The data was collected using pre-tested questionnaires and
analyzed using logistic regression models and descriptive statistics.
The finding revealed that the nurses did not have the proper skills and medical equipment
such as smartphones with specific applications (GPS, accelerometer) and activity bracelets to
provide patient information symptoms and behavior in real-time. The lack of momentary
assessment through technology made it difficult for these nurses to identify how patient
symptoms and disability varies over time and within different social contexts. Further, the results
showed that rural settings lacked equipped psychiatric facilities, and the hospitals were widely
dispersed, which made it difficult for the patients to access proper treatment (Beks, Healey &
Schlicht, 2018). The nurses also mentioned that they did not have sufficient support to offer
specialized emergency care. Hence, they relied on phone calls to seek instructions from

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specialists to provide immediate treatment to the clients. This also created issues in
communication and led to errors of omission that triggered further complications.
Coventry, L., & Branley, D. (2018). Cybersecurity in healthcare: a narrative review of trends,
threats, and ways forward. Maturitas, 113, 48-52.
This article explains the potential of healthcare technologies to save lives and enhance
patients’ quality of life under hospice and palliative care. Coventry & Branley (2018) describe
the importance of electronic health records, patient monitoring devices, and telemedicine that
have enabled patients to access care worldwide. The medical ‘Internet of Things’ has enhanced
the management of diseases and coordination of care among healthcare personnel. The evolution
of devices used in healthcare is simultaneous to interconnectivity. Currently, the devices
connected to a single bed in a hospital in America is about 10 to 15 devices. These are
interconnected to promote efficiency, reduce errors, facilitate automation, and remote monitoring
of the patients. The interconnectivity has enabled healthcare professionals to monitor their clients
and adjust devices attached to the patients without the need for hospital admission or performing
invasive procedures. Notably, electronic health record promotes prompt delivery of care by
ensuring that health information has been shared broadly. However, such interconnectivity is
prone to cybersecurity attacks resulting in data breaches and a lack of confidentiality in medical
information if hackers access such data by launching malware remotely. The article aims to
examine cybersecurity threats in healthcare and potential strategies through legislation to prevent
security breaches.
The authors used the PubMed database to search for full-text articles written in English
and peer-reviewed from April 2012 to April 2018. The search engine was sorted using keywords
such as cybersecurity and healthcare. This gave 2475 articles, which were narrowed down to

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1249 when the articles from 2014-2018 were selected. The titles of the articles and abstracts
were screened by the chief researcher, and only those with evidence of cybersecurity issues and
stated implications for healthcare settings were well documented. Other articles on systematic
reviews with themes on education and behavior of health workers were also included. The
findings of this research showed that the vulnerability of healthcare systems to cybersecurity
attacks was linked to increasing connectivity to technology. Patients with chronic conditions are
connected to multiple devices, which are often easily accessible and makes it easier for hackers
to attack the system. Security breaches also take time to be identified in the hospitals, which
increases vulnerability to cyberattacks. Further remote monitoring and use of smartphones make
it challenging to install protective antimalware technologies since some of them are systemic and
used a local area network. Further, the authors also revealed that malware attacks are common,
and they tend to have far-reaching consequences, as seen with the WannaCry attack in 2017 led
to a system lockout in some fifty hospitals in the United Kingdom (Coventry & Branley, 2018).
Fareed, N., Swoboda, C. M., Jonnalagadda, P., & Huerta, T. R. (2020). Persistent digital divide
in health-related internet use among cancer survivors: findings from the Health
Information National Trends Survey, 2003–2018. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1-12.
This article explains the impact of internet use among cancer survivors by linking health
outcomes to technology use. In the recent past, the internet has been considered a comprehensive
source of information, convenient access to technical information, and provision of real-time
feedback. According to Fareed, Swoboda, Jonnalagadda, & Huerta (2020), 35 percent of adults
in the United States reported using online media to diagnose a medical problem for themselves
or other people. Approximately 46 percent of the patients would then see medical care based on
the information they accessed online. Forty-one percent of those diagnosed online reported

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having their diagnosis confirmed by a medical practitioner. The adoption of Health Information
Technology (HIT), such as electronic health records and mobile applications in healthcare, has
been used increasingly since 2013, contributing to online health communication transformation
within the last decade. The use of social media as the primary source of news in 2018 revealed
that internet connection was a significant contributing factor to cancer survivorship. The number
of cancer survivors is estimated to rise to 20 million persons by 2026. These individuals could
use the internet to source information on disease management, complementary medicine, access
to clinical trials, supporting bodies, and constant communication with their doctor on
prescription an appointment for further review.
The authors used survey data from 2003-2018 obtained from the “Health Information
National Trends Survey (HINTS). The study obtained data on the prevalence of cancer, trends of
internet use, users’ profiles who emailed doctors, bought medicine online, and participated in
group support. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive and multivariate logit regression
models. The results showed that the cancer survivors who did not use the internet were older, had
lower education levels, resided in rural areas, and were from ethnic minorities in the US. These
results showed that there was an increase in HRIU among cancer survivors; however, the digital
divide was also more significant in terms of access to the internet. The authors seek to influence
policies that narrow the gap of internet use among cancer survivors to improve their health
outcomes. Essential factors such as access to the internet and digital literacy among the patients
should be addressed to enhance the use of online platforms for communication of health-related
information.
Vogenberg, F. R., & Santilli, J. (2018). Healthcare Trends for 2018. American health & drug
benefits, 11(1), 48.

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This article illustrates remarkable trends in healthcare in the past two years such that
transformation has been witnessed by changes in public health and tax reforms. Information
technology in healthcare has also changed based on expanding user base, timely delivery of
information, and transformative healthcare market trends. Their use in healthcare is reflected in a
positive return on investment. IT in health has led to the emergence of a clear consumer focus,
positive healthcare experiences, delivery system changes, and supply chain changes. The authors
Vogenberg & Santilli (2018) explain the use of wearable sensors and smart devices to track ad
monitor patient parameters such as movement speed, muscle activity, and blood pressure. The
sensors have now been used to collect physical and chemical processes of the body concerning
the local environment, which leads to the release of useful information that aids in patient
management. For example, wrist-worn wearable devices have penetrated the wellness industry to
track the physical activities of the patients. Therefore, the industry has grown by 10.6 percent
between 2013 and 2015, making this sector the fastest-growing market.
This study used data collected for two years on various health innovations in the industry.
Multiple companies such as “AiQ Clothing, Hexoskin, and OMsignal” have also come up with
biometric garments that can be used to measure the vital signs of the body. The authors explain
that future prospects could involve wearables that can be put in jewelry and used to collect
patient biometric data. Further research in this area could look at using a single wearable device
that contains all the patient data and facilitates monitoring. The results reveal that innovations in
genomics and holistic medicine have enabled consumers to access care tailored to account for
their genetic makeup. Further, this has also enabled genetic counseling to help patients
understand the diagnostic data and make alternative life decisions for their wellbeing, especially
those with chronic conditions. The results also show that telehealth has been primarily adopted in

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healthcare to enhance remote therapy for chronic diseases and pre-existing comorbidities. The
adoption of telemedicine was seen to have increased from 54.5 percent in 2014 to 61.3 percent in

2016. This illustrates an annual rate of increment by approximately 3.5 percent. According to
      Vogenberg & Santilli (2018), the future of medicine involves artificial intelligence that would
      revolutionize healthcare from patient assessment, designing treatment plans, and drug creation.
      Conclusion
      Technological advancements in healthcare have enhanced the delivery of quality care to
      the patients. The internet has enabled the use of technologies such as telehealth, virtual doctor,
      and telemedicine to meet patients’ health demands across the globe. Further, electronic health
      records have ensured that patient data can be shared among the health professionals to enhance
      prompt delivery of service. As much as technological innovations such as wearable detectors and
      patient monitoring devices are efficient in improving patient care, they are also prone to
      cybersecurity issues. For example, interconnected devices can cause a system lockout if one is
      attacked by malware obtained from phishing emails. Similarly, mobile devices outside the health
      facilities can be prone to security breaches since firewalls only work within the local area
      network. Therefore, future research should focus on using generation V cybersecurity through
      the automation of firewalls to prevent unauthorized access.

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References

Beks, H., Healey, C., & Schlicht, K. G. (2018). “When you’re it”: a qualitative study exploring
the rural nurse experience of managing acute mental health presentations. Rural And
Remote Health, 18(3), 4616.
Coventry, L., & Branley, D. (2018). Cybersecurity in healthcare: a narrative review of trends,
threats, and ways forward. Maturitas, 113, 48-52.
Fareed, N., Swoboda, C. M., Jonnalagadda, P., & Huerta, T. R. (2020). Persistent digital divide
in health-related internet use among cancer survivors: findings from the Health
Information National Trends Survey, 2003–2018. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1-12.
Vogenberg, F. R., & Santilli,