HCM FPX 5310 Assessment 3 Feasibility Study: Proposal Overview

Feasibility Study: Proposal Overview

Riverside University Health System (RUHS) is a multi-specialty health care provider for Riverside County, California. RUHS provides all primary care, emergency, chronic disease management, specialty health care, and a focus on improving access to health care for underserved populations (RUHealth, n.d.). It has a mission to provide high-quality, caring services to all residents, including those who can’t afford them, and to be a pioneer in health care innovation and public health solutions (Bergersen et al., 2023). The feasibility study was to be used to help answer the organizational question of how to improve access to healthcare through telehealth. The demand for better health care access for underserved and mobility-challenged patients and the increasing number of rural residents in Riverside County have spurred a plan to expand Telehealth services through a Telehealth Expansion Program. This programme will offer patients virtual health care, which will ease pressure on the physical facilities and address an increasing patient demand for less intrusive and more convenient health care services.

Section I: Organization Background

• Organization Overview

Riverside University Health System (RUHS) is an all-encompassing health care system in Riverside County, California. Several facilities, such as hospitals, outpatient clinics, and specialty care centers, exist at RUHS, which has been created to enhance the health and well-being of the community. It aims to provide quality, affordable health care services to all Riverside County residents, and its vision is to be a leading international health care organization to revolutionize health care through innovation, education, and research (Bergersen et al., 2023). RUHS is committed to serving a diverse population, including low-income and uninsured individuals, in order to decrease health care disparities in the community. RUHS is a public health system that is tax-exempt and has various sources of revenue that include government funding, grants, and patient service revenue (GuideStar.org, 2022). More than 3000 employees work at RUHS who are dedicated to providing loving care.

Proposed Program: Telehealth Expansion

RUHS has an interest in doing a feasibility study for a Telehealth Expansion Program to address the current need for readily available health care services. The goal of this program is to help enhance the healthcare system by facilitating integration of telehealth into the healthcare system, and to help expand access for patients to healthcare services, especially those in underserved and remote populations. The AMA study indicated that telehealth use is significant – specifically that 56% of patients were more likely to prefer telehealth for routine appointments (Cook et al., 2022) – but there are some points to consider: There is evidence of a significant increase in telehealth use, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the AMA study revealed that 56% of patients preferred telehealth for routine appointments (Cook et al., 2022; AMA, 2022). As telehealth capabilities expand, RUHS will be better able to provide care to patients, make care more accessible, and boost patient satisfaction. This feasibility study will include an evaluation of the necessary infrastructure, technology, and training for this program.

The Telehealth Expansion Program will not only enhance patients’ convenience for accessing health services, but will also have a positive impact on RUHS as it fulfills its strategic objectives of innovation and transformation to meet the evolving health care service demands. The study by Willis et al. (2022) shows that RUHS has the capacity to minimize patient wait times, decrease operating expenses, and enhance health outcomes by means of timely interventions and constant interventions with telehealth. In addition, the program is in line with national trends in health care that are encouraging the adoption of technology to increase patient engagement and care delivery, such as the increased coverage of telehealth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to demand from the public.

The objectives of the proposed program are provided in Section II. The objectives of the proposed program are given in Section II.

Section II: Objectives of the Proposed Program

• Organizational Need

The feasibility study will be based on the critical organizational need to improve access to healthcare services in Riverside County, particularly with the current difficulties in accessing healthcare services due to geographic barriers and rising demand for remote healthcare services. In the context of an increasing population, there is a pressing need to come up with innovative solutions that will make it possible for all patients to access timely and appropriate care. Patients are concerned about access to services, especially in rural areas where transportation is cumbersome and there are long wait times to see a health care provider (Adepoju et al., 2021). RUHS plans to assess the feasibility for expansion of expanding telehealth services to address these barriers and improve patient engagement, satisfaction, and health outcomes.

• Objectives and Benefits

The purpose of the proposed Telehealth Expansion Program is to improve the ability of patients to access health services via virtual communication to help bridge gaps in service access and meet the diverse health service needs of clients in the community. One specific objective of the program is to address the delay in seeking healthcare services for people with chronic conditions as well as those requiring regular follow-up visits, and those with mobility and transportation issues (Dhaliwal et al., 2021). Setting up the entire scheme this way would ensure that patients wouldn’t have to sacrifice their preferred level of care by sacrificing it for RUHS and would also give them a fighting chance to follow their treatment plans and take better care of their health problems. Telehealth is effective for managing chronic diseases because patients who participate in a telehealth program feel they receive better health outcomes and satisfaction with their health experience, per McElroy et al. (2020).

In addition, the Telehealth Expansion Program will provide RUHS with improved operational efficiency and may provide increased patient volume. By integrating telehealth services into the organization, the organization can optimize the use of healthcare providers, reduce no-show rates, and streamline workflows,, resulting in cost savings and increased productivity. Kubes et al. (2021) research suggests that telehealth can reduce the cost of healthcare by reducing the need for in-person visits and bypassing the emergency room and ultimately help the organization to stay financially viable. The changing healthcare environment will continue to see RUHS remain on the cutting edge of new healthcare solutions, such as telehealth, while being responsive to better meet patient needs.

Section III: Program Consistency

he proposed Telehealth Expansion Program is very similar to the mission of Riverside University Health System (RUHS): to provide high-quality healthcare services to Riverside County residents, who are all too easy to access. The study by Bailey et al. (2021) implies that RUHS should consider adopting telehealth technology to address the locational factors and mobility challenges and reach more patients. Telehealth is also a new component of the healthcare delivery model and aligns with RUHS’s vision of beingvarious regulatory and policy challenges must a leader in healthcare innovation. Also, it serves as a complement to RUHS’s existing services, including routine care and chronic disease management, and promotes continuity of care through virtual appointments, which means no in-person appointments are necessary and can provide the same high-quality care.

RUHS will have a competitive edge with this program when compared to its competitors. Underserved populations in rural areas, or those who are not easily accessible to transportation, include populations that may benefit from telehealth services from a local provider, but RUHS can focus on those populations. The key to the competitive advantage would be to develop a more extensive TeleHealth platform that would include follow-up care, prescription management, and chronic disease monitoring (Omboni et al., 2022). In this regard, providers offering integrated telehealth services have better patient satisfaction and patient loyalty compared to providers with more limited or disjointed telehealth services.

Section IV: Economic and Fiscal Issues

Economic and fiscal issues need to be considered for implementing the Telehealth Expansion Program at RUHS. The changing demographics in Riverside County, population growth in the rural areas, and access to healthcare are among the factors that impact the growth of this program. This migration leads to an increase in the need for services that can be offered remotely. The ability to receive telehealth, however, may be impacted by unemployment rates and income inequality in a specific geographical area, especially in areas lacking sufficient services (Romain et al., 2022). To address this, RUHS will have to ensure that the program is available for Medicare, Medicaid, and other public health insurance recipients.

The program also has the potential to improve the economic development of the local and regional economy from a cost perspective since the program may help to decrease unnecessary visits to the emergency room and hospital admissions, particularly for chronic disease patients. Indeed, as shown in the Minen et al. (2021) study, telehealth services can help save money by reducing the number of in-person visits and allowing for more effective monitoring through remote, or virtual, visits. Overall, the focus on preventative care and early intervention in the program will likely result in improved health outcomes for the region’s population, ultimately saving money on health care costs in the region. In addition, with the continued growth of telehealth, new telehealth roles may arise at RUHS, such as Telehealth Coordinators, IT professionals, and nurse practitioners.

To implement the program, there will be costs including technology infrastructure upgrades, the securing of telehealth platforms, hardware for healthcare providers, and patient interfaces. These include staffing costs and the need for having a dedicated telehealth support team (Rangachari et al., 2021). There could be some reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid, private insurance payments, and federal or state grants to fund health innovation for the program. In particular, the availability of grants that are focused on access and health equity in rural areas may provide a significant amount of extra funding.

Section V: Marketing Issues

The Telehealth Expansion Program will offer a marketing opportunity for RUHS to be a leader in health care and enhanced access for improved quality of care. Services will be offered for underserved populations; those living in rural areas; those with chronic conditions; and to help RUHS expand access to services and those served by the community. Other important market segments comprise low-income patients, Medicare patients, and patients with no mobility or transportation (Aggarwal et al., 2022). Rural communities will be the basis for a significant population in Riverside County, and telehealth will be a key component to providing health care services to them without requiring a long drive.

There is competition in the form of other local health systems that started to provide the program; RUHS’s program will be more extensive and investigative, on underserved populations, and provide more integrated services. RUHS can stand out from the competition by focusing on accessibility, affordability, and continuity of care. Furthermore, the time-saving principle of telehealth will be highlighted through marketing stimuli to control chronic diseases and ensure regular care (Ventuneac et al., 2023). Literature confirms the increasing need for telehealth, and the initiative to expand telehealth at RUHS provides some validation for the success of such a community-based approach.

Section VI: Organizational Issues

here are several implications of the implementation of the Telehealth Expansion Program at RUHS. Second, there are also various regulatory and policy challenges that must be addressed, including interstate telehealth licensure, HIPAA guidelines on privacy in virtual consultations, and other privacy concerns (Shachar et al., 2020). Moreover, there are different billing regulations for telehealth services, which will have to change the organization’s current billing systems and processes (Aggarwal et al., 2022). As state and federal regulations evolve around the practice of telemedicine, RUHS may need to re-certify staff in order to be able to provide virtual care services.

The new program needs to take into account liability and risk management. Although telehealth lowers the risks of face-to-face interactions with patients, it also presents new liability issues, including issues with technical failures and misdiagnoses resulting from virtual-only consultations (Nittari et al., 2020). However, a comprehensive protocol for managing risks is needed by RUHS, including making sure medical providers get additional training in telehealth practices. That might include documenting best practices for using telehealth, having rules of thumb in place when it is appropriate to go in-person, and standby plans should technology fail. The organization will also require malpractice insurance, which will cover telehealth services (malpractice may have varying exposures than when done in person).

RUHS can take a series of measures to alleviate the risk of the program. Establishing a reliable IT infrastructure is a key first step to providing the reliability needed for the telehealth system. Regular system audits and investments in cybersecurity measures will help to mitigate the risks of data breaches (Algarni et al., 2021). Comprehensive training of staff members (clinical, technical, and administrative) will also reduce the likelihood of an error or disruption to services (Rosati et al., 2020). RUHS might also consider hiring telehealth service providers that would provide clauses that would alleviate the responsibility of RUHS for services provided by the technology or “technology failure. RUHS could partner with insurance companies to facilitate the billing and reimbursement of telehealth services, so they get the appropriate reimbursement.

Section VII: Conclusion and Recommendations

Overall, the feasibility study indicates that the Telehealth Expansion Program should be implemented at RUHS. The goal of this program is to “give back” to the community and meet a need by providing access to healthcare for the underserved and rural. The program’s short- and long-term benefits are numerous, including enhanced access to care, which translates to better patient outcomes; reduced operational costs when accessing in-person care; and RUHS’s status as a leader in healthcare innovation. Additionally, the program will help boost patient satisfaction, which would result in a better reputation for the organization as well as a better competitive position.

RUHS would benefit in the short term as fewer of its face-to-face patients would be using the facility and physical resources would not be as stressed. The long-term benefits are also more significant – preventing ill health via prevention and managing chronic conditions – and benefit the health system as a whole by saving money. The telehealth program will be capable of meeting patient needs and organizational objectives simultaneously, which will result in patient satisfaction and boost RUHS’s reach to more individuals. Hence, the implementation of this project is essential to fulfil the immediate health care requirement of the community and will also guarantee the sustainability and development of RUHS.

Conclusion

The Telehealth Expansion Program is a viable and necessary solution to satisfy the growing need to access health care services in Riverside County in an easily accessible manner. By increasing access to telehealth, RUHS has more access to underserved populations and can continue to provide high-quality care. Findings from this feasibility study indicate that the program is consistent with the mission of RUHS, has immediate and long-term benefits, and has limited financial and operational risks that can be mitigated. This program will see RUHS continue on its journey as a healthcare innovator and expand its footprint to reach more patients at a lower cost.