E-patient
E-patient
Guion, Denise Sharielle - 2A
Jacobo, Christian Lawrence - 2A
Jamadre, Herfa Grace - 2A
Javier, Esania Adrienne - 2A
Letrero, Danica Jen - 2A
Macavinta, Danica Rose - 2A
Ticorda, Manisha Anne - 2C
Electronic healthcare (e-health) is defined as an emerging field in the intersection of medical informatics, public health and business, referring to health services and information delivered or enhanced through the Internet and related technologies. E-health will significantly alter the way physicians practice medicine where electronic medical records with specialized software programs can increase the quality of patient care, reduce unnecessary medical tests, and directly connect with pharmacies to transmit prescriptions. This innovation in electronic communication will efficiently allow physicians to respond to patients’ clinical concerns and questions, and Internet access can provide physicians better access to literature.
I personally see e-health as a complete and accurate picture of patient care, not only that it can reduce the costs associated with paperwork and improve efficiency but it can also enable safer prescribing and reduce the risk of medical errors.
An ePatient is a health consumer who uses the Internet to gather information about a medical condition of particular interest to them, and who use electronic communication tools in coping with medical conditions. The Internet is a powerful tool, and e-patients say the wealth and accessibility of online medical information has a large impact on their health care. E-patients are very active in their own medical care, using the knowledge they acquire online to take charge of their health. They are more aware of their conditions, cognizant of their symptoms and informed enough to help their doctors monitor their progress. While there may exist a risk of overly hasty self-diagnosis, knowing more about medical conditions makes a person more attuned to their body and promotes vigilance. E-patients are more likely to try alternative remedies to medication, such as vitamins or herbal supplements, and can learn more about exercises and techniques to cope with various conditions. According to Dr. Tom Ferguson, e-Patients are not electronically connected, but rather as equipped, enabled, empowered, and engaged in their health and healthcare decisions.
The citizens of most developed countries, the internet has become a powerful and familiar healthcare tool. About half of adults in the United States have looked for health information on the net, making this the third most popular online activity. E-patients (we include both those who seek online guidance for their own ailments and the friends and family members who go online on their behalf) report two effects of their online health research—“better health information and services, and different (but not always better) relationships with their doctors.”Based on own observations, the expert opinions of colleagues, a variety of e-patient and provider surveys, and a few more rigorous trials, offer five tentative conclusions regarding the emerging world of the e-patient.
Many clinicians have underestimated the benefits and overestimated the risks of online health resources for patients. Many medical researchers have become so “distracted by focusing on the negative aspects of the internet” that they have overlooked the benefits it provides.Reports of patients coming to harm as the result of online advice are rare, whereas accounts of those who have obtained better care, averted medical mistakes, or saved their own lives are common. Many e-patients say that the medical information and guidance they can find online is more complete and useful than what they receive from their clinicians.
Medical online support groups have become an important healthcare resource. These groups now provide emotional support, guidance, health information, and medical referrals for nearly all medical conditions, around the world, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, for free. They support self education and self responsibility, encourage patients' initiative and assertiveness, and provide members with an opportunity to help others.Some e-patient groups, conduct patient initiated clinical research. The group's science team includes a virologist, a microbiologist, a doctor or surgeon, a physicist, an oncologist, and a human genome researcher—all patients or family care givers.
E-health researchers should realise that we are witnessing the most important technocultural medical revolution of the past century. We must move beyond critiquing the content of websites, developing proprietary systems, and evaluating the effectiveness of professional interventions. A number of insightful studies of the emerging culture of e-patients have been published, mostly in the social science literature. But they are rarely cited in mainstream medical journals, and their conclusions are unknown to most clinicians.
Crowdsourcing is the practice of engaging a ‘crowd’ or group for a common goal which often includes innovation, problem solving, or efficiency. It is powered by new technologies, social media and web 2.0. Crowdsourcing can take place on many different levels and across various industries. Thanks to our growing connectivity, it is now easier than ever for individuals to collectively contribute, whether with ideas, time, expertise, or funds, to a project or cause. This collective mobilization is crowdsourcing. It is a process of tapping in to individuals or groups of people, paid or unpaid who are linked together with a common interest to bring forward powerful, increased results through their aggregated actions or activities. This phenomenon can provide organizations with access to new ideas and solutions, deeper consumer engagement, opportunities for co-creation, optimization of tasks, and reduced costs. The Internet and social media have brought organizations closer to their stakeholders, laying the groundwork for new ways of collaborating and creating value together like never before.
Health Consumers are people who use health services, as well as their family and carers. This includes people who have used a health service in the past or who could potentially use the service in the future. A healthcare ‘consumer’ tends to choose and get involved in decision making whereas traditionally a ‘patient’ tends to be a person who receives care without necessarily taking part in decision making. Also the term healthcare ‘consumers’ includes carers who often have an important role in health care decision making and care giving. Finally many health programs and services don’t use the term ‘patient’ anyway and refer to ‘clients’ or even ‘residents’ in the case of live-in facilities. Healthcare consumers also are the key stakeholders in patient-centered and patient-driven care. Consumers play a critical role in the medical decision-making process, making choices that ultimately impact the value of care delivered on both individual and societal levels. Healthcare consumerism has been identified as a powerful tool to accelerate changes in the delivery of care. Many consumer advocates recognize that quality, cost, and coverage are inextricably linked and that all must be addressed to achieve a health-care system that delivers quality, affordable health care for all.
An e-patient is a health consumer who participates utterly in his/her medical care, especially by gathering information about medical conditions that affect them and their families, using the Internet and other digital tools. It is beneficial for both the clinicians and patients. In addition, the clinicians and informatics support each other for a better e-patient care. Through informatics, clinicians have more access than ever to electronic health records, diagnostics, and remedy plans. Clinicians can also supervise what the patients want to do, such as all through rehabilitation process. When there is a need for bodily examination, clinicians can also determine patients by zooming in body parts, or the patient can ask help from someone who has a historical past in medicine. They also have the duty to guarantee their patients for a successful cure even though they are separated via distance. In order for e-patient care to turn out to be successful, patients and clinicians should meet half ways to resolve obstacles and enhance delivery of care. The patients should persistently follow the treatment plans given to them by the clinicians.
On the other hand, through informatics the clinical communication and collaboration platforms are making it less complicated to manipulate healthcare workflows, improve coordination, and enhance patient outcomes. Through these, we can ask for medications and scientific advices via simply being in the protection of our homes. The consultations of patients to clinicians are made possible with the assist of technology might also it be via video conferencing, emails, text messaging, or file exchanging.
An example of electronic health chart:
Examples of health application:
Reference:
The Wellness Network. (2016, April 13). What Are E-patients?. Retrieved from https://www.thewellnessnetwork.net/health-news-and-insights/blog/what-are-e-patients/#:~:text=Tom%20Ferguson%2C%20e%2Dpatients%20are,medical%20assistance%20and%20support%2C%20and
Lee, Fox., (2004).First Generation of E-patients. Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Eysenbach G. (2001). What is e-health?. Journal of medical Internet research, 3(2), E20. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.3.2.e20
Hargrave, M. (2020, January 29). How Crowdsourcing Works.
Disclaimer: Photos from the internet are not mine, credits are given to their respective owners.
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Disclaimer: Photos from the internet are not mine, credits are given to their respective owners.
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