Governance, Compliance, and Health Policy
Topic: Governance, Compliance, and Health Policy
Governance, Compliance, and Health Policy
Visit the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website and read the article “The Impact of Health Literacy on a Patient’s Decision to Adopt a Personal Health Record.” Provide a summary of your findings and any insights you have gained in the review of the information.
Article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510648/
must include 1 biblical reference and at least 2 peer-reviewed sources
A patient’s ability to comprehend the materials provided by their physicians is referred to as health literacy, and it is determined by several factors, key among them being education levels, age, and income (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). The bible has numerous verses highlighting the various aspect of health, such as in Luke 2 verse 52, where Jesus increased in wisdom, stature in favor of both God and man. In other words, Jesus grew in mental health and physical health by gaining wisdom and stature. For this reason, a person experiences complete health by acquiring knowledge on how to improve their physical and mental health. This factor can be used to explain the significance of health literacy.
According to this research study conducted in Florida, despite patients having relatively low levels of education, the majority of them had broad acceptance of personal health record technology (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). Among the critical variable that can explain these results is that the eHealth Literacy Scale is often used to measure a patient’s health literacy. If future, it is expected that there will be a disappearance of technology barriers, a factor that will enhance the increased use of PHRs (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). However, to realize PHRs full potential, a challenge that has to be overcome is the patient’s understand of information. This study aimed to determine the existing relationship between the patient’s willingness to use or adopt personal health record and their ability to understand and find e-health information.
From the results obtained in this study, it showed that 74% of practice’s patients intend to adopt personal health record when it becomes available (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). In a population that is socioeconomically unlikely to take up PHR, the findings are quite encouraging. However, there will be needed to take up follow-up longitudinal research to determine whether patients access data and utilize it to enhance their health outcomes and status.
With an aging population, technology is emerging as an ideal healthcare enhancement with PHRs, providing a more popular option preferred by electronic health records providers. Utilizing this technology will go a long way in bridging the gap that might exists when it comes to improving healthcare management. Today there is improved healthcare and enhanced cost-saving measures, which acts as an incentive for improved reimbursements to PHR providers. However, the study also notes that the success of this initiative will be based on the patients’ willingness to use and adopt PHR as they seek to improve their overall well being and healthcare (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). For example, the study found that although lower education standards are associated with lower health literacy levels, diabetics who had low literacy levels demonstrated a willingness to improve their knowledge and understanding of how to manage their disease (Noblin, Wan & Fottler, 2012). Based on this understanding, there is a need to look at a patient’s ability and understanding to utilize the information supplied by healthcare providers.
Some of the insights gained from the review of information in this study are that since PHRs are a relatively new technology, there is a need to undertake further research on the potential methods that can be conducted to enhance the usage of PHRs. Among the specific areas of future research may involve taking longitudinal data study to establish any positive correlation that might exist between a patient’s ability to read and comprehend written health-related materials and the maintenance of PHRs. I would recommend that future studies on this field should focus on establishing what contributes to patient’s low health literacy adopt a willingness to take PHR.
References
Noblin, A. M., Wan, T. T. H., & Fottler, M. (2012). The impact of health literacy on a patient’s decision to adopt a personal health record. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3510648/
