NURS FPX 6224 Assessment 2 Technology Evaluation and Needs Assessment

Technology Evaluation and Needs Assessment

In healthcare, technology evaluation and needs assessment play an essential role, involving the systematic review of systems to identify gaps in service provision. Such processes integrate inputs from stakeholders, workflow assessments, and performance measures to ensure alignment with institutional goals.

When quantitative data is combined with qualitative insights, a solid foundation for making evidence-based decisions and continuously improving is established (Nair et al., 2024). Such evaluation processes identify gaps in infrastructure, training needs, and opportunities for innovation, and guide resource planning and staff preparedness. The evaluation considers the use of mobile applications for uploading patient-generated data within Emory Healthcare’s ecosystem.

Relevance of Needs Assessment

The needs assessment is the basis for any successful change effort at Emory Healthcare and is a systematic process for identifying gaps between current practices and intended results. Through the systematic collection of both qualitative and quantitative data, such as patient satisfaction indicators, clinical workflow indicators, staff feedback, and equipment stock, nurse leaders gain a clear picture of bottlenecks, resource limits, and emerging requirements (Nair et al., 2024).

The evidence-based foundation proposes that any proposed intervention, whether a new technology adoption or a staffing shuffle to improve patient flow, will directly address the most critical gaps and not be based on anecdote or assumption. Needs assessments in this way not only protect Emory in its bid to achieve clinical excellence but also optimize investment of time, budget, and training resources.

Nurse leaders use needs assessments to determine how technology can more effectively enable care delivery. To start the process, nurse leaders should conduct an audit of existing systems and identify underused digital tools, legacy platforms, or hardware bottlenecks, and cross-check their findings against workflow requirements, such as charting at the bedside, administration, or interdisciplinary handoffs.

Simultaneously, Zemmel et al. (2022) stated that leaders should survey and interview frontline workers to assess proficiency levels and identify training gaps that could be a barrier to adoption. A dual lens of human competency and technical capability can also help leaders define specific, desired solutions. For example, leaders could use mobile technology to capture real-time documentation, integrate remote monitoring dashboards, or update clinical decision-support algorithms to enhance process efficiency, reduce mistakes, and enhance team communication.

The needs assessment process is a critical skill that enables nurse leaders to employ a rigorous methodology for decision-making and resource allocation. Translating data into a priority for action can help leaders make a persuasive business case for executive buy-in, justify investing in technology and training, and tie departmental priorities to Emory Healthcare strategies for improving quality and driving innovation.

Additionally, interventions based on explicitly defined needs would have quantifiable benefits for staff resource allocation, operational efficiency, and patient outcomes (Kreuter et al., 2021). This helps build leadership credibility and fosters a culture of continuous, evidence-based progress.

• Assumptions

Before the needs assessment, the following assumptions were deemed vital. The processes of day-to-day operations and patient care may be underutilizing available technology, resulting in inefficiencies. Employees may not have adequate training and confidence in working with digital tools (Giebel et al., 2023).

Patients are also looking forward to a seamless digital experience, but the current structure may not be adequate to accommodate those requirements. Lastly, there can be significant gaps between the resources provided and what the user requires, preventing effective adoption and performance improvements.

Technology Infrastructure in Healthcare

Emory Healthcare harnesses a whole digital ecosystem built around the Epic electronic health record (EHR), with connections to enterprise-wide picture archiving and communication systems (PACS), lab information management systems, and pharmacy automation systems.

A network of mobile workstations on wheels that allow secure and Wi-Fi-enabled clinicians to access patient records, place orders, and communicate in real time. Telehealth platforms facilitate virtual visits in primary, specialty, and postoperative care (Emory Healthcare, 2020). A centralized analytics engine and data warehouse for aggregation of clinical, operational, and financial data for quality monitoring and predictive modeling.

The above-mentioned resources drive efficiencies by eliminating documentation duplication, streamlining the order entry process, and standardizing care pathways with embedded clinical decision support. They increase effectiveness through real-time alerts, such as early warning scores and drug interaction alerts, and facilitate multidisciplinary care coordination across sites.

Despite these strengths, there are still challenges to equity, including language barriers (which limit the use of portal/telehealth for non-English speakers), patients with low digital health literacy are disproportionately older and socioeconomically vulnerable, and patients in rural/underserved areas may not have reliable broadband access (Saeed & Masters, 2021). Infrequent system failures or slowdowns in legacy integrations pose an additional risk of delaying care for complex care cases.

The most pressing need is for a patient-centered platform that will augment the EHR with an enhanced mobile application for uploading data to the provider or healthcare team. This solution should support multilingual interfaces, low-bandwidth operation, and seamless bidirectional data exchange of home-measured vitals and symptom-tracking devices (Solomou et al. 2025).

Such technology would reduce administrative burdens on registration staff and reduce transcription errors. By empowering all patient populations, regardless of language, literacy, or geography, to take an active role in their care, the approach supports Emory Healthcare’s goals of efficiency, quality, and equity.

• Conflicting Data

Mobile apps for uploading data boost patient engagement and real-time monitoring of health data, but raise issues of security and interoperability. Some clinicians worry that they will complicate work processes, create a cognitive burden, and increase burnout.

On the other hand, proponents have suggested that these concerns can be reduced through proper targeting, careful implementation, and adequate privacy measures (e.g., Solomou et al., 2025). Decision-makers need to impartially consider potential benefits and costs, as well as equity issues, before embarking on wide-scale deployment.

Technology’s Impact on Outcomes

An improved patient-centered mobile application at Emory Healthcare would help address persistent gaps in care continuity, timeliness, and data accuracy, affecting clinical outcomes and nurse performance. The application has the potential to support real-time uploading of vitals monitored at home, symptom diaries, and pre-visit questionnaires, thereby reducing delays in identifying clinical deterioration and transcription errors associated with paper-based reporting (Murabito et al., 2024).

Samal et al. (2021) stated that continuous data streams can enable nurses to spot early warning signs of heart failure exacerbation and identify medication nonadherence before complications arise. Expanding monitoring beyond hospital walls enables care teams to achieve situational awareness and prevent and reduce preventable readmissions and adverse events, thereby contributing to the health equity of a patient cohort with limited access to in-person follow-ups.

Building on Emory’s existing Epic EHR infrastructure, the app will need to support bidirectional interoperability with fast healthcare interoperability resources (FHIR)-based application programming interfaces (APIs) to automatically populate nursing dashboards and trigger clinical decision support alerts, without redundant manual patient entry. The initial step in implementing this will be a targeted pilot at the heart failure clinic, with rapid, iterative cycles of feedback with frontline nurses or information technology experts (Giordan et al., 2022).

This adoption strategy will culminate in enterprise-scale adoption along with routine system releases, setting the stage for easy adoption. Complementary e-learning modules and hands-on workshops will help both nurses and patients gain the skills to do so, and unit-based designated super-user champions will assist in the change management process to ensure a smooth transition from legacy processes to the new mobile workflow.

When implemented, the enhanced solution for uploading mobile data will enable patients to be more actively involved in their treatment, leading to greater self-management, satisfaction, and trust. Clinicians have access to richer, more up-to-date data to help them develop individualized care plans, leading to fewer complications and reduced length of stay (Willems et al., 2021). Organizationally, reduced avoidable admissions and streamlined charting processes lead to cost savings and a better throughput.

To the nursing team, it is a matter of improving care planning, prioritisation, and handoffs, enabled by instantaneous access to patient-reported measurements, freeing time for direct interaction with the patient, empowering professional autonomy, and increasing job satisfaction (Willems et al., 2021). In conclusion, this technology aligns with Emory Healthcare’s commitment to efficient, high-quality, and equitable care, as evidenced by reduced readmissions, positive patient experience scores, and engaged nursing staff.

Improving Collaboration and Efficiency

Dedicated mobile app technology for uploading patient-generated information generates a unified, real-time information stream available to nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and care coordinators across Emory Healthcare. Rather than the current collection of portal messages and paper logs received late or in siloes, the FHIR-based integration of the app pushes structured entries directly into Epic dashboards (Lobach et al., 2022).

This shared view facilitates handoffs, timely interdisciplinary huddles, and reduces duplicative outreach. By giving everyone on the team access to the same information at the same time, and to the same vitals and trends in patients’ symptoms, this app promotes team care planning and faster discussion of treatment changes.

Instead of relying on unpredictable phone reports and manual data entry, the app automates data collection, ensuring consistency with specific thresholds and automatic warnings (e.g., elevated blood pressure or increased weight).

These alerts activate instant clinical decision support in the EHR, leading to timely interventions such as sepsis guidelines or medication reviews, which are so frequent in the existing retrospective review system (Baron and Haick, 2024). The uniformity and accuracy of electronically validated data reduce the risk of transcription errors and information lapses, eliminate adverse events directly, and safeguard vulnerable patients.

By eliminating paper forms and duplicate charting, the mobile app decreases administrative burdens on registration staff and nursing staff. Instead of faxing hard logs and carrying paper logs with handwritten therapies, entry uploads seamlessly, reducing the chart completion lag time from hours to minutes.

Briggs et al. (2024) showed that automated import of home-measured vitals supplants duplicate orders and manual reconciliation, freeing clinicians to focus on direct patient care. Compared to existing workflows, this streamlined process enhances workflow, optimizes staff allocation, and aligns with Emory’s objectives of delivering efficient, patient-centered services.

• Knowledge Gaps

Despite excellent design, there is some uncertainty about how many patients are likely to adopt and about the digital literacy across the demographic. It is unclear how network bandwidth fluctuations will affect app performance in rural/underserved settings.

Data privacy and cybersecurity protocols require greater verification to ensure compliance and build user trust (Solomou et al., 2025). The long-term consequences of continuous remote monitoring on clinicians’ workload and alert fatigue remain to be explored.

Supporting Equitable Patient Care

The patient-generated data uploaded via a mobile application enables equitable healthcare provision at Emory through multilingual user interfaces, adjustable font sizes, and low-bandwidth modes, which support patients with limited English proficiency, visual impairments, or connectivity issues in rural areas.

Unlike the current fusion of the MyChart portal and paper records, which generally excludes non-English speakers and those without a reliable internet connection, the app’s design enables every patient to send vitals and symptom reports in a language and format of their choice (Emory Healthcare, 2023). By reducing technical and language barriers, the technology promotes inclusive participation and aligns with Emory’s commitment to health equity.

The uniform, time-stamped information derived from the app provides consistent triggers for clinical decision support systems across different patient groups and reduces care variability. In contrast to looking back in time at handwritten logs or late phone updates, which are prone to transcription errors and bias, automated alerts for out-of-range values trigger timely intervention regardless of the patient’s background.

This real-time monitoring helps close outcome gaps in chronic diseases (e.g., hypertension, diabetes) by enabling especially vulnerable populations to receive the same proactive care interventions as more digitally privileged patients (Mihevc et al., 2025).

The ability to post data asynchronously allows the app to expand Emory’s reach beyond traditional office hours and geographic boundaries, helping ensure patient access to remote patient monitoring and timely provider feedback.

In contrast to telehealth platforms that require high-speed broadband connectivity and live video, the app’s low data footprint and optional SMS notifications allow resource-limited patients to participate without prohibitive connectivity requirements (Salama et al., 2025). This flexibility enhances access to follow-up care, education modules, and care coordinator outreach, ensuring that every patient has access to the full spectrum of Emory’s clinical resources.

• Assumptions

The explanation is supported by several assumptions. Patients of all demographics have access to smartphones and are literate; a multilingual interface should be an effective way to overcome the language barrier, while intermittent connectivity will work in low-bandwidth modes.

It also assumes that clinicians can reliably observe and respond to incoming information. It assumes that patient trust will develop from data privacy protection (Solomou et al., 2025). Lastly, it assumes organizational support of the required training and infrastructure.

Conclusion

Needs assessments may help nurse leaders at Emory identify gaps in technology, guide the implementation of evidence-based solutions, and balance resources to achieve strategic goals. It improves patient engagement, outcomes, safety, efficiency, and access to care; enhances the quality of care; reduces readmissions; and enhances nursing workflow satisfaction.

Focus on data-driven decision-making and inclusive design to ensure Emory deploys efficiently, delivers measurable results, and provides patient-centric care across diverse populations.

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