Assessing the Problem – Technology, Care Coordination, and Community Resources Considerations

Heart disease remains one of the most pressing healthcare issues of concern in the United States as it remains the leading cause of death and a risk factor for other complications. I have been working closely with patients from the Black American population during my practicum to improve disease outcomes across the population. In this paper, I will analyze the impact of healthcare technology on heart disease with a focus on the Black American population based on the current evidence, explore how care coordination and the utilization of community resources can be used to address heart diseases, and the influence of nursing board and governmental policies on my actions during the application of healthcare technology, care coordination, and community resources to address heart disease. Our assignment writing help is at affordable prices to students of all academic levels and disciplines.

Part 1

Impact of Health Care Technology on Heart Disease

The advances in healthcare technology have continued to impact how healthcare services are delivered to patients while transforming the experiences of the patients and the healthcare professionals. The recent happenings in the global healthcare sectors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and how the use of technology in health care proved to overcome the crisis-related barriers to care delivery, such as distance, and improved the time to deliver and report results, ensure safety, and assist in unplanned virtual visits, among others, have accelerated the adoption of technology in health care (Clipper, 2020). Current evidence on the application of various technological tools in managing heart disease shows how healthcare technology is essential to addressing heart disease across the U.S. population.

Wearables, mobile tracking applications, and telemedicine are the leading healthcare technologies in managing heart disease. A systematic review by Debon et al. (2019) focused on the application of mobile technology features in lifestyle improvement and found that technology-facilitated lifestyle changes and adherence to medication and other treatment features through alert messages. This review indicates how mobile technology can be applied in treating current heart conditions and preventing adverse events and outcomes in the future. A randomized trial on the use of mobile health technology in the management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) found that the integration of care for AF with a mobile application resulted in a significant reduction of complications, risk of death, and hospitalizations in the trial patients (Guo et al., 2020).

Telemedicine is another healthcare technology that has found immense application in managing heart disease. Telemedicine involves using video or phone calls and tools to create a real-time physician-patient interactive environment for patient monitoring, collecting diagnostic data, and delivering other care services regardless of the physical distance between the provider and the patient. Evidence from research during the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of telemedicine to improve utilization of care services and prevent cross-infection risk during treatment in hospitals proved telemedicine to be an essential tool in the diagnosis and active management of chronic diseases such as heart disease (Wang et al., 2021). According to Escobar-Curbelo and Franco-Moreno (2019), telemedicine is a critical tool for controlling acute and chronic heart disease patients because it supports diagnosis and therapy delivery in cardiovascular emergencies. However, Mazzuca et al. (2022) argue that technology failure can risk patient safety and that telemedicine can potentially violate patient privacy and confidentiality.

The identified technology and evidence from research are consistent with the technologies used within our healthcare facility managing heart conditions, as well as the impacts of such technologies in heart disease patient care. I have used telemedicine to connect with three patients from their homes successfully. We also use mobile applications linked to wearables to monitor heart disease conditions and track patient health. Notably, the results have been great and reflect the available evidence on using such technologies. Additionally, some patients have expressed concerns about whether we will be tracking their private activity using the mobile application. Such concerns have been addressed and resolved.

However, the adoption of mobile applications and telemedicine in health care is a bit slow as it faces various challenges and barriers to technology acceptance. For instance, the acceptance of telemedicine in health care faces various barriers that range from costs, provider resistance and skills, patient factors including ignorance and ability