Reference no: EM133807572
Evidence Based Practice II
Legal and Ethical Implications
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Legal and Ethical Implications of Implementing a Nurse-Led Telehealth Program
Introducing a nurse-led telehealth program in a large urban primary clinic is a revolution in the healthcare system. With the changes in the healthcare field moving towards digital technologies, it becomes crucial to consider legal and ethical issues before making such changes. The expansion of telehealth services, which has the potential of expanding the reach and enhancing efficiency of healthcare delivery, is faced with several key issues, including concerns about licensure, privacy and security, and documentation. In this discussion, the focus is on the significant legal and ethical issues related to a nurse-led telehealth application and the kind of backup and essentials that should be put in place to achieve success in the project while at the same time observing the legal requirements and ethical standards of the field.
Legal Implications
Telehealth legal issues start with licensure and scope of practice concerns, involving states where individual practitioners or telehealth businesses can practice. Telemedicine laws are very different across different states, and thus, even though telehealth has been well-received across the United States, the rules governing this practice are pretty complex (Sipes, 2024). Practice issues in cross-state become even more demanding when caring for patients who might be shuttled or live in different states or practicing states whose nursing board procedures must be followed by nurses. The implementation must comply with the Nurse Practice Act of each state concerned, and all the above-mentioned telehealth services should be within the legal ambit of advanced practice nurses (White et al., 2021). Also, there is a need to create guidelines and regulations for people from other states and emergencies that may occur during virtual consultations.
Privacy and security requirements form another legal imperative that telehealth programs must observe. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") standards have yet to be set aside, and the program for safeguarding patients' health information during virtual consultations and data transfers remains critical. All data within healthcare organizations must be safeguarded. Communication methods must be encrypted, data storage needs to be secure, and access to information must be appropriately regulated (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2022). Documentation and record keeping pose other issues, especially when there is a need to keep an electronic health record that will capture all the telehealth encounters besides meeting legal requirements. Organizations must establish standardized protocols for documenting virtual visits, obtaining consent, and outlining the procedures to be followed when recording all instances of telehealth (White et al., 2021). Such requirements meet legal conditions to keep both healthcare providers and patients safe.