System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Traditionally, patients with cardio-vascular health problems were the risk group, which has the high death toll caused by the failure of health care professionals to deliver proper health care services in time. The population with cardio-vascular problems is at high risk of the fast and unexpected deterioration of their condition. Today, cardio-vascular health problems are the major causes of deaths of patients. In such a situation, the effective monitoring and control over the condition of patients is essential but impossible without the effective communication between health care professionals and patients which can enhance the delivery of health care services and improve the overall performance of health care services and delivery of health care services to patients. Contemporary technologies may help to improve monitoring of the condition of patients with cardio-vascular health problems and communicate this information to health care professionals for them to intervene in time and effectively. The distance patient monitoring system can enhance the communication and coordination of care in health care units, like cardiology unit, due to the use of contemporary technologies that help to monitor the condition of patients from their home and send the detailed information about their condition to nurses and physicians, who conduct the treatment and rehabilitation of patients with heart disease or other cardio-vascular health problems. System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Unit description
The cardiology unit delivers health care services to patients, who have heart disease and cardio-vascular health problems. The target population of the unit is broad, although the elderly population prevails because cardio-vascular health problems are more common to the elderly population, whereas cases of heart disease or cardio-vascular issues among young patients are relatively rare and related to abnormalities, as a rule.
The ethnic and cultural background of the unit and target population is diverse since the local community is diverse. This is why the unit has to provide health care services to all patients with respect to their specific cultural norms and traditions. The distinct feature of the cardiology unit and its communication with patients is the importance of regular monitoring and control over the condition of patients. Such monitoring and control cannot always be performed in the unit. Instead, patients may need monitoring and control, while they are at home.System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
At this point, the problem of the effective communication and coordination of the work of the unit emerges because health care professionals cannot always monitor the condition of patients. As a result, when patients return from the unit back home, they may experience serious health problems because of the lack of accurate and effective monitoring and control and important information about changes in the condition of patients is not communicated to their physician or nurse.
Description of the clinical and patient care issue
The treatment of heart disease and cardio-vascular health problems is very complicated. Patients with cardio-vascular health problems have to be under the permanent supervision of health care professionals because their condition is very dangerous and their condition may deteriorate very fast and unexpectedly. In such a situation, the constant monitoring of their conditions is needed, but nurses and physicians cannot supervise, monitor and control the condition of their patients with cardio-vascular health problems all the time. This is why there is the risk that their condition may deteriorate and health care professionals will be unable to provide them with essential medical aid in time. Such problems may occur during the treatment as well as at the stage of the rehabilitation after surgery, for example, when patients are at home and health care professionals cannot control and monitor their condition.
Therefore, the permanent monitoring of the condition of patients with heart disease and cardio-vascular problems is one of the main issues both patients and health care professionals have to deal with and this issue has to be resolved for the patient safety. In this regard, the improvement of the communication between health care professionals and patients is the key to the improvement of monitoring and control over the condition of patients. If patients can monitor their condition regularly and provide relevant information to health care professionals, the latter can offer them recommendations and develop the treatment on the ground of the actual condition of patients. Moreover, such communication and monitoring can help to prevent serious deterioration of the health of patients. Contemporary technologies open large opportunities for the development of the system of monitoring the condition of patients and communication with health care professionals. System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Literature review
Existing studies (Larsson, et al., 1997) reveal the fact that cardio-vascular health problems hold the leading position among various causes of deaths of patients in the US. This means that these health problems are very challenging for patients and health care professionals and they cannot cope with them successfully since patients still die, although existing methods of treatment may help them. Researchers (Olmeda, 2002) argue that one of the major problems that leads to the high death toll among patients with cardio-vascular disease is the late medial aid delivery to patients and the failure of health care professionals to detect dangerous changes in the condition of patients in time, before the serious decline of their health occurs. For example, regular monitoring and control may help to identify early signs of the upcoming stroke and health care professionals can divert the stroke or, at least, help patients to survive stroke successfully.
Researchers (Suermondt, et al., 1992) argue that communication gaps and the ineffective communication are among major risk factors that lead to the failure of health care professionals to assess the condition of patients properly and provide them with required medical aid in time. At the same time, the communication alone is not enough because health care professionals need to assess accurately the condition of patients, but they cannot always examine patients, when patients are at home. Hence, researchers (Lucas & Baroudi, 2002) argue that distance monitoring is the prospective direction for the development of the contemporary cardiology and health care at large because such monitoring can help to monitor the condition of patients and communicate results of monitoring to health care professionals. System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Recommendation of the technological solution
As the root of the problem of the poor and late delivery of health care services to patients with cardio-vascular health problems, then the solution of this problem should focus on monitoring of the condition of health of patients and communication of the results of the monitoring to health care professionals, for example, to nurses, while nurses may report to physicians, if they detect some dangerous changes in the condition of their patients. Available technologies provide opportunities for both monitoring the health condition of patients and communication of results of the monitoring to health care professionals. Contemporary equipment allows autonomous measurement of vitally important systems and organs. For example, patients do not need a health care professional to measure their heart beat rate at home, if the contemporary equipment is applied. In such a way, it is possible to use available technologies to measure all vitally important functions and overall performance of patients to conduct the accurate assessment of their health condition.
At the same time, internet and digital technologies allow communicating the information about the monitoring of the health condition of patients to health care professionals. For example, contemporary technologies allow having a remote monitoring of a person with heart disease from home, as it sends alerts via a mobile device of any arrhythmia, or abnormality; and it may even start some actions to improve the patient’s condition (Larsson, et al., 1997). For example, the use of such monitoring system may be connected to the electronic equipment of the patient home, such as lighting or air conditioning and heating system. On processing the collected information, the system may change the lighting or temperature in home to make the patient feel more comfortable and to improve the condition of the patient. If critical changes in the condition of patients are identified, the alert is sent directly to the nurse or physician that supervise the patient and conduct his/her treatment. On receiving the alert, health care professionals will respond immediately and either call the patient, or go to the patient to deliver essential health care services on the site, or call the emergency to bring the patient to the hospital immediately. System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Steps to implement the system/technology
The first step in the development of the proposed monitoring system is to develop and introduce a remote monitoring of a person with heart disease from home. The monitoring system should include the equipment that measures vitally important signs of the patient, processes the collected data and determines the current condition as well as prepares the report for health care professionals to read and evaluate. The monitoring system will be connected to the electrical equipment in home and connected to internet and mobile network that will help to transmit the data obtained in the course of monitoring to health care professionals.
The next step is to introduce the equipment that will monitor and adjust the room lighting, temperature and other environmental conditions at the patient’s home. In such a way, the monitoring system will adjust conditions according to actual needs of the patient that may help the patient to avoid unnecessary problems and to survive before health care professionals arrive.
The next step is the creation of a mobile application that is attractive to the medical area that serves as a complement to telemedicine, for example, or also to control diseases that allow the remote monitoring and care in home based patients, to avoid extra charges for medical care rooms, or contagion from other patients, a latent risk in health centers (Bovee & Thill, 2005).
Regulations concerning distance patient monitoring
The privacy of patients is the major concern in legal and ethical terms in case of the implementation of the proposed monitoring system that will communicate the information about the current condition of patients to their physicians and nurses. The monitoring system should protect the private data of patients as well as data collected in the course of monitoring. The system should not admit the access of the third parties to the data collected and to the private information of patients. System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems
Conclusion
Thus, the introduction of the monitoring system will help to monitor the condition of patients with cardio-vascular health problems, adjust the home environment to current needs of patients, and report their health condition to health care professionals for them to undertake required steps, if necessary, to help the patient to cope with possible health problems. In such a way, the monitoring system will improve the performance of the cardiology unit and improve the communication between health care professionals and their patients.System for Patients with Cardiovascular Problems