I welcome you to this evidence-based (EB) care plan and remote collaboration utilization video presentation based on a Villa Health scenario. The scenario is about Caitlynn Bergan, who has cystic fibrosis and lives in hard to reach area. Goodridge and Marciniuk (2016) found that caring for patients in remote areas is very challenging. In this presentation, I will propose an EB plan and examine how remote interdisciplinary collaboration offers challenges to planning and delivering care while identifying benefits and strategies to mitigate these challenges.
Information about Caitlynn Bergan
Caitlynn is a 2-year-old child that presented to the ED with thick secretions, reduced breath sounds in the right bases, shallow respirations above the normal range (32 per minute), and a high temperature. She was admitted for pneumonia for the second time in 6 months. Caitlynn was then diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The care professionals in different settings plan to work collaboratively to handle the patient’s care needs (Morley & Cashell, 2017). A short consult among professionals Dr. Copeland, Virginia Anderson, and Rebecca Helgo (the respiratory therapist at the hospital) revealed that caring for Caitlynn will not be easy. It was identified that the girl lives in a remote town (McHenry) over an hour away. McHenry is an area without adequate available resources for patients with such chronic conditions. Besides, Caitlynn’s pediatrician confessed to having never had a patient with such DX. The patient’s mother (Janice) and father (Doug) are separated and both full-time workers. The team plans to use telemedicine in case Caitlynn is brought to the local pediatrician or hospital with symptoms, and there’s no assurance on the necessity of the hours-long trip.
Now I will propose an evidence-based care plan to improve the safety and outcomes for Caitlynn based on the Vila Health Remote Collaboration on Evidence-Care media scenario.
In Caitlynn’s case, telemedicine offers an effective tool for coordinating care, which entails integrating EBP care approaches that improve patient safety and care outcomes. Caitlynn stays in a remote location with limited access to quality care and competent professional teams that may improve care delivery for cystic fibrosis. Moreover, her family is not financially well and needs support to increase home care management to improve the patient’s quality of life and care outcomes. In Marcin et al. (2016), it was found that patient outcomes can be boosted through integrating telehealth in care, which yields improved patient wellbeing and better safety of care. Mainly, telehealth guarantees the alignment of collaborative professional teams and families toward the shared goal of safety promotion and quality of life restoration (Wu et al., 2020). Telehealth is proposed to ensure Caitlynn obtains quality care that is enriched by involving experienced physicians in managing cystic fibrosis in remote or physically inaccessible areas by the physician. Thus, telemedicine is an EB intervention that may solve the challenge of coordinating care for Caitlynn as she deserves follow-up that only Dr. Copeland offers but is far from her remote town.
Next, I will explain the ways in which an EBP model was used to help develop the care plan, and I will reflect on which evidence was most relevant and useful when making decisions regarding the care plan.
Following the conditions surrounding the case, consultations amongst professionals gave the collaborative team leverage over coming up with the best EBP care plan for the girl. Especially, the Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) Process Framework EBP model helped in creating the care plan (Field et al., 2014). The KTA model phases were essential when identifying patient needs and related evidence, using the knowledge of the case, recognizing barriers, then setting the plan and determining how positive patient outcomes will be realized and evaluated. Castellani et al. (2018) suggest that various providers must interact collaboratively to implement successful care plans. The evidence that caring for patients in remote areas challenges healthcare facilities in providing the best care was most relevant in deciding on the care plan. Gougeon et al. (2017) indicate that the need for an interdisciplinary collaborative care model for professionals in different settings has been the basis for remote collaboration. Therefore, deciding to implement telehealth intervention for Caitlynn followed identified necessity. The poor accessibility and transport to the hospital would be a source of adverse care outcomes.
Here, I identify the benefits and strategies to mitigate the challenges of interdisciplinary collaboration to plan care within the context of a remote team.
EB care is often challenging for medical situations, but specific challenges arise from offering care remotely. The geographical limitation is a major challenge to interdisciplinary collaboration in offering the best services. More so, the case reveals a lack of support services in the remote areas where Janice is stressed by her daughter’s condition. Gougeon et al. (2017) note that interdisciplinary collaboration yields the provision of constant care services without physicians traveling long. To offer improved care to patients living in hard-to-reach settings or that have transportation difficulty reaching care sites, care professionals should collaborate with fellow professionals in varying ZIP codes or time zones through e-health solutions. Constant communication via Skype, email, or telephone, together with sharing patient information on e-records, helps distant collaborating professionals to overcome the geographical barriers to patient care. Positive benefits to patient outcomes for this case would be evaluated by identifying a change in patient condition and reduction in the incidence of readmission attributed to multidisciplinary professional efforts.
In conclusion, my analysis of Caitlynn’s case indicates the need and advantages of collaborative and coordinating care in addressing patient needs when an interdisciplinary team is involved. It is clear that modern technologies (telehealth and telecommunication) are great enablers of remote collaboration and EBP for patients with poor or limited access to care services as well as follow-up support. Caitlynn’s case scenario is critical to the promotion of patient wellbeing and life quality for those restrained and isolated geographically yet require interdisciplinary professionals to effectively manage their condition.
References
Castellani, C., Duff, A. J., Bell, S. C., Heijerman, H. G., Munck, A., Ratjen, F.,… & Hodková, P. (2018). ECFS best practice guidelines: the 2018 revision. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis, 17(2), 153-178.
Field, B., Booth, A., Ilott, I. & Gerrish, K. (2014). Using the Knowledge to Action Framework in practice: A citation analysis and systematic review. Implementation Science, 9, 172. Web.
Goodridge, D., & Marciniuk, D. (2016). Rural and remote care: Overcoming the challenges of distance. Chronic Respiratory Disease, 13(2), 192-203. Web.
Gougeon, L., Johnson, J., & Morse, H. (2017). Interprofessional collaboration in health care teams for the maintenance of community-dwelling seniors’ health and well-being in Canada: A systematic review of trials. Journal of Interprofessional Education & Practice, 7, 29-37.
Marcin, J., Shaikh, U., & Steinhorn, R., (2016). Addressing health disparities in rural communities using telehealth. Pediatric Research, 79(1), 169-174.
Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, 48, 207-216. Web.
Wu, Y. R., Chou, T. J., Wang, Y. J., Tsai, J. S., Cheng, S. Y., Yao, C. A., Peng, J. K., Hu, W. Y., Chiu, T. Y., & Huang, H. L. (2020). Smartphone-enabled, telehealth-based family conferences in palliative care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Pilot observational study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 8(10), e22069.