Nursing and Informatics for the 21st Century – Embracing a Digital World, 3rd Edition
Book 2: Nursing Education and Digital Health Strategies
2022 Productivity Press: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003281009
Chapter 7
Author: Marisa L. Wilson
Health systems have long relied on established, evidence-based disease strategies and approaches to manage the care of individual patients; however, the prevalence of chronic disease and illness continues to grow. Recent evidence suggests that the current models of care delivery are neither sufficient nor well constructed to effectively manage the demands that this level of chronic illness places on the system. Current funding models and cost pressures will make life changing therapies unaffordable and inaccessible for many unless the health system can transform care delivery and new models of care can be developed and implemented. However, there is a gap between what is currently delivered and how it is delivered, and what the consumer wants and what they access. The key to closing this gap and to advance and strengthen the healthcare system will be to move it toward a future that is not bounded by four walls but is digitally enabled, focused on health and wellness, and that is designed, evaluated and managed by a healthcare team competent and capable of fully engaging in a digital health revolution. Nurses are the primary providers of hospital-based care delivering most of the care in the nation’s long-term facilities. Nurses are in a prime position to lead the revolution and evolution of healthcare by becoming innovators of digital health solutions and strategies. However, nurses need a strong foundation in the building blocks of digital health to be competent and able to engage and lead this digital movement.