Topic of Interest

The Impact of Telehealth on Patient Outcomes and Satisfaction in Rural Healthcare Settings

Summary of the Topic

The use of Telehealth has become one of the most important models of health care delivery, especially for the population in rural areas and other remote places, where it is not possible to organize traditional inpatient care. Remote consultations, health monitoring and digital follow-ups otherwise referred to as Telehealth appears to offer a solution to healthcare inequalities. For rural consumers, telehealth provides opportunities for early medical assistance, less transportation load, and constant care for chronic diseases. The purpose of this research is to assess the telehealth’s effects on the patients including health status changes and hospitalization frequency as well as patient satisfaction in rural contexts. The study will seek to know if there has been a change in the quality of health care provided to the rural patient after the adoption of telehealth technology to determine its efficiency in delivering equal health care services.

Theory Driving the Study

The framework for this research is rooted in Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality. It was created by Madeleine Leininger at the University of South Carolina and encompasses cultural aspects of a patient’s life focusing on the patient’s environment, beliefs, and values. However, telehealth raises cultural and technology concerns that could affect the applicability of the intervention for diverse rural people. Leininger’s theory assists in situating the study by emphasizing the provision of cultural relevant telehealth services based on patient’s preferences and technological application familiarity. Furthermore, the HBM will facilitate knowledge of how patient’s belief systems regarding telehealth impact their receptiveness and use of such services. This model posits that patient’s perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits and perceived barriers do influence the health behaviours and health outcomes Patients’ perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, and perceived barriers influence health behaviours and health outcomes.

Population of Interest

Patients who are eligible for this study are rural patients that are using telehealth services to manage their chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension, and heart diseases. Telehealth is useful in rural communities since they are likely to experience constrains such as low health facilities, fewer healthcare professionals and patients may be unable to afford transportation costs. The participants in the study will be adult patients from rural care backgrounds who have had a telehealth session for at least three months, to provide enough data to compare both short term and long term effects on patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Consequently, this research proposal will analyze how the level of telehealth services affect the health status and perceived satisfaction among rural patients, which factors of culture and technology can influence this group. This work uses Leininger’s Theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality together with the Health Belief Model to explore which practices can be best applied to offer telehealth in the rural context for the benefit of patient care and satisfaction. The findings of this study would be beneficial to nursing and medical professions through determination of advantages and possible disadvantages of using telehealth in healthcare delivery system in remote areas.