Preparation
Telehealth technology can be representative of many different scenarios. For example, the technology could be designed to assist nurses with providing care, such as chronic disease management, to rural patients. It could also be designed to enable physicians to access enhanced care strategies from other providers in another part of the United States, or internationally. Such care strategies might include radiology readings or assistance in an operating room with a new procedure.
For this assessment and all remaining assessments, choose any new or upgraded telehealth technology that you would like to see implemented in your organization or practice setting. Be creative and imagine what it would be like to have any telehealth resources that would benefit your community. Then, imagine that executive leaders in your organization or practice setting are considering the purchase of those resources to improve the quality of care provided to patients and enable medical and nursing staff to extend coverage for patients in the region.
Finally, as a nurse leader with responsibilities in upper management, imagine that you have been asked to determine whether this purchase will adequately address key issues in patient care and lead to improved outcomes.
To prepare for the assessment, reflect on performance gaps, what outcomes are measured, and how telehealth technologies can help to improve outcomes. Also, consider how you would effectively communicate the need for a new or upgraded technology to executive leaders in a way that will help you obtain their support. In addition, you may wish to:
Review the assessment instructions and scoring guide to ensure that you understand the work you will be asked to complete.
Review the Guiding Questions: Technology Needs Assessment document, which includes questions to consider and additional guidance on how to successfully complete the assessment.
Requirements
Determine the need for the new or upgraded telehealth technology. Present your findings and recommendations in an executive summary. Include any available assessments and gap analyses that may have been conducted previously.
Complete the Vila Health: Preparing for a Technology Needs Assessment simulation, linked in the required resources.
The executive summary requirements, outlined below, correspond to the grading criteria in the Technology Needs Assessment Scoring Guide, so be sure to address each point.
Read the performance-level descriptions for each criterion to see how your work will be assessed.
The Guiding Questions: Technology Needs Assessment document, linked in the required resources, provides additional considerations that may be helpful in completing your assessment. In addition, be sure to note the requirements below for document format and length and for citing supporting evidence.
Explain the relevance and importance of a needs assessment.
Identify the key issues in nursing care affecting patient outcomes that the new or upgraded telehealth technology will address.
Identify the safety requirements and regulatory considerations when using this technology.
Identify the patient confidentiality and privacy protections that this technology must address.
Describe the potential impact of internal and external stakeholders and end users on the acquisition of this technology.
