Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Francisca Farrar

Abstract

Telehealth initiated a transformation in the realm of innovative strategies to meet the demands of an ever-changing health care system. Adapting provisions to new delivery care models such as telehealth is one way to improve access to care. The purpose of this project was to explore evidence of best practices in telehealth through an extensive, systematic literature review. The practice-focused question focused on identifying advantages of and barriers to the use of telehealth for improving patient satisfaction and quality of care. The plan-do-study-act cycle served as a model for accelerating quality improvement through improved systems of practice, and the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tool was used to identify factors in the literature that indicated the clinical effectiveness of telehealth and the contributions of information technology to patient outcomes throughout the care continuum. Applying Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt's model, which consists of 7 levels for grading evidence, 11 articles were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria. With respect to comparing telehealth services, this review identified areas for future research, including how telehealth can be used to bridge the gap between hospital and home with the integration of telehealth being integrated into routine care as a means to deliver medical, health, and educational services that contribute to improving patient outcomes. The implications of this project related to social change include supporting evidence that positive change is possible when modalities of health care delivery include the patient as part of care, benefiting both patient and provider.

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