Date of Award
Spring 5-2-2020
Document Type
Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Department
Nursing
Advisor
Kay Ball, PhD, RN
First Committee Member
Kim Wortman
Keywords
Telehealth, Survey, Rural, Ohio, Technology, Healthcare
Subject Categories
Medicine and Health Sciences | Nursing | Public Health and Community Nursing
Abstract
In 2015, the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion allowed over 700,000 Ohioans to gain access to healthcare insurance, but having health insurance did not improve access to healthcare providers. In rural populations in Ohio, there are several counties in which less than five healthcare providers are available for the entire county with little or no specialists available for patients. People in rural areas of Ohio may have significant travel time and distance to see a provider which decreases preventative health visits. Telehealth is the next big wave of technology and advancement for healthcare, but most rural populations in Ohio have no definition of telehealth and no experience with telehealth. This project addresses the need for a telehealth survey to determine readiness and provides results from a telehealth survey in rural Ohio. This project identifies three themes; a knowledge gap related to telehealth, infrastructure, and a desire for closer access to healthcare. By identifying readiness to telehealth, real solutions to benefit the rural populations in Ohio can begin. This project concludes with recommendations for successful implementation of telehealth in a rural population in Ohio. Telehealth could be another dead-end road to healthcare if people are not educated on the advantages and implementation or if the local infrastructure is not sustainable for a telehealth program. People could be frightened of the technology or mistrustful if the healthcare provider is not face-to-face. Telehealth could be a successful road to access if people are given the knowledge and opportunity to participate in their healthcare decisions.
Recommended Citation
Bowen, Annie and Ball, Kay, "REPORT: Creating and Piloting a Survey to Determine Readiness in Rural Populations in Ohio" (2020). Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects. 47.
https://digitalcommons.otterbein.edu/stu_doc/47