The solution that is proposed to address the issue of limited access to healthcare services is the incorporation of telehealth technologies into health. The use of telehealth technologies in addressing the issue is associated with a number of benefits. Firstly, telehealth is cost-effective. It reduces the costs that patients could have incurred in travelling to receive the care that they need. Telehealth also promotes patient-centeredness in care (Kayyali et al., 2017). Patients and providers can interact whenever in need to address their health issues, hence, patient-centeredness. The use of telehealth also improves health outcomes by facilitating early identification and management of health problems (Lillicrap et al., 2019). Telehealth is however associated with disadvantages that include being expensive to implement, requires provider and patient training and eliminates the physical interaction between patients and providers, which could address other health needs not possible through telehealth (Lin et al., 2018).
Addressing the issue of limited access to healthcare services using telehealth is associated with a number of ethical implications. Firstly, it promotes equity and equality in health. The use of telehealth promotes enhanced access to care by the vulnerable populations through the elimination of barriers such as costs, availability and geography. Addressing the issue also promotes the ethical aspects of benevolence and non-maleficence. Healthcare providers ensure that care that is safe, efficient and effective is delivered to the affected populations in a timely manner. Healthcare providers also utilize the technology to make decisions that are of best interest in meeting the actual and potential needs of the patients (Kuziemsky et al., 2020). The use of telehealth technology to address the issue of limited access to healthcare services however raises the ethical concern of data integrity. In specific, the use of health technologies threaten the privacy and confidentiality of the data of the patients. Data integrity issues such as breaches and ineffective use of the technology could lead to loss or access of data by third or unintended parties (Botrugno, 2019). Therefore, the use of telehealth health should prioritize the protection and promotion of data integrity.
Overall, limited access to healthcare services is a critical issue that affects the health outcomes of a population. Limited access to healthcare services is attributable to factors such as cost, geographical, race and ethnicity, and poverty-related barriers. Limited access to healthcare services affects populations that include individuals with disability, rural dwellers, the poor, insured, and those from ethnic minorities. Therefore, solutions such as the use of telehealth services should be incorporated to address the issue of limited access to healthcare services in the US.
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