Management of chronic disease can best be achieved through both self-management and long-term clinical follow-up in the hospital and the community. The health problem of my patient in this practicum project was pediatric asthma. However, she also had gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and childhood obesity. This health problem forms part of chronic lower respiratory diseases, which contribute a significant mortality and morbidity rates in the United States in recent years.
Low socioeconomic status and asthma-related comorbidities such as GERD and obesity are associated with poor control of symptoms that lead to poor quality of care, quality of life, and health safety (Paoletti et al., 2021). Costs associated with care for asthma are related to access to direct care and health insurance. Therefore, strategies such as the use of technology, community resources, and care coordination have the potential to improve the patient’s healthcare quality and safety.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of technology on the patient’s health problem, discuss the effect of care coordination and community resources utilization in addressing the patient’s health problem, and analyze influential state and national policies that impact the utilization of community resources, care coordination, and technology used in the management of this health problem.
21st-century healthcare has been known for technological developments and the need for quality improvements in healthcare outcomes. Healthcare technology has impacted the care for asthma and associated comorbidities. Various healthcare technologies have impacted asthma care and can potentially improve future care for asthma. However, these technologies have their specific advantages and disadvantages in asthma manage. Some of these technologies are web-based technology, phone messaging services, mobile phone applications, smart devices, and social media.
Web-based Technology
Web-based technologies rely on the internet to facilitate interaction between asthma patients and their care providers. Examples of web-based technologies used in asthma include but are not limited to My Asthma Portal, My Child’s Asthma, and Puff city (Poowuttikul & Seth, 2020). Web-based technologies have served different purposes in asthma management. Web-based platforms that contain educational interactions were found to improve adherence among children with poor compliance with asthma medications (Ferrante et al., 2021). These technologies have also been used to monitor asthma treatment among children remotely.
Web-based technologies overcome the time and distance barriers in care delivery. Therefore, these children can access care in a timely fashion at home. By enhancing patient edition, these technologies promote self-management and thus the quality of care improvement. However, the less physician-patient direct interaction time created by web-based technologies has an impact on the credibility of the interaction. The use of these technologies does not guarantee reimbursement to the care provider and is not licensable, thus reducing motivation by the care providers to use them.
Mobile Phone Applications
The ubiquity of mobile phones, especially smartphones, has radicalized healthcare delivery due to the ease of access to information by patients. However, these technologies also offer an opportunity to promote physician-patient interaction through software applications called smartphone applications (Larsson et al., 2020). Some of the mobile health applications used in asthma management are the physician on-call patient engagement trial (POPET) and the adolescent adherence patient tool (ADAPT).
Mobile health applications promote medication adherence and thus improve patient outcomes. Smartphones are generally convenient and efficient to use, making asthma management applications convenient for most people. Poowuttikul & Seth (2020) say these technologies reduce mortalities, improve patient satisfaction, and enhance self-management. The mobile health apps help the patient or caregivers track the medication treatment, document peak flow ratings, and provide reminders to enhance medication adherence and avoid triggers.
However, some patients can find these rem
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