Universal Healthcare Initiative

I have many ideas to contribute to the Instructional Design world, specifically in relation to healthcare and patient relations management among healthcare providers.

Some of the missing pieces in U.S. healthcare, which lead to various patient care issues, are the aspects of patient autonomy toward their health and uniformity of healthcare delivery and access across facilities and providers. One of the artifacts I developed in TAMUCC's IDET program, Universal Healthcare Initiative, is the beginning phase of this idea which I believe is vital to future initiatives in U.S. healthcare.

For many patients, a doctor’s visit almost always begins with a plethora of questionnaire and identification forms. Most facilities use the same combination of forms, although each varies slightly based on the institution’s practices and regulations. For patients, this is one of the more tedious aspects of doctor's visits, especially for those patients who have chronic or terminal illnesses requiring their recurring presence in health care facilities.

"Universal Healthcare Initiative" streamlines these processes by creating a more universal approach to screening patients. By utilizing one uniform set of screening forms and questionnaires, cloud-shared progress reports transferrable to a any number of providers, and a HIPPA-compliant method of sharing this information with providers and the patients, health care practices could become more time efficient, and financially sound, and effective for all parties.

The way to accomplish this conglomerate task begins with an idea similar to my own: a website, accessible by a variety of devices such as a computer/laptop, cell-phone, or tablet, hosted on a secure cloud-based connection and requiring individualized, secure log-in processes. The HIPPA regulations of patient care and privacy must be stringently applied and adhered to, however, with the introduction of features such as "Doctors on Demand" and similar tele-health virtual doctor's visits, it appears we have reached a new era of healthcare, one in which technology has become more ingrained in the new reality of the virtual world.

For this initiative to work, it requires the cooperation of entities and providers across various areas of healthcare. Physicians, hospitals, imaging facilities, laboratories, Medicare and private health insurance companies, and patients themselves must all be involved in the development and implementation of a project of this scale. The need for cooperation is vital to the success of this initiative, as the forms created for universal use must encompass all necessary items an entity requires. This could present logistical problems requiting time to finesse and perfect. Not all entities can use the same forms, so specific categories must be created to accommodate those differences. However, the end-goal is to create a universal method of collecting and dispersing patient information.

Some questions to be addressed when attempting this venture include:

What is the target population for an initiative of this scale?
Who are the stakeholders, and how does this initiative impact their bottom line?
Which methods of data collection best reach and serve the customer?
What is the overreaching capacity for this project?
How far do we anticipate its growth to be in the next 5 years? 10 years?
How do we guarantee HIPPA is maintained within each step of the process?
What is the anticipated timeline for implementation, revision, and official launch?
How often should we expect to revise/edit/update forms, and why is this time frame needed?
- How often do physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies update or revise their forms?
- How can we streamline the process to limit the number of updates?
Who are the leaders of each stakeholder?

These questions can help us begin a process concurrent with the objective end-results. Although this type of venture is a large pill to swallow, its benefits far outweigh the growing pains involved.

With the constant struggle of physicians, medical facilities, insurance companies, and patients to operate as many parts of "one body", this type of innovative change in healthcare practices could help solve some of the inherent issues present within the U.S. healthcare system.

By optimizing the latest technological advancements available in data collection and sharing, and utilizing resources readily available and proven effective, patient care practices in the U.S. can lead the way to a more Universal Healthcare pathway

Universal Healthcare Artifact