Assessment 1 Report – Summarizing Public Health InformaticsINTRODUCTIONTwitter is the most popular

Assessment 1 Report – Summarizing Public Health InformaticsINTRODUCTIONTwitter is the most popular and growing social media platform, has been increasingly used for understanding the experiences of patients including public awareness about the disease, syndromic surveillance, assessing public misunderstanding surroundings antibiotic use, and as a cost-effective means of research recruitment (Fernández-Luque, L., & Bau, T., 2015). Twitter presents a possible new venue to engage health-care consumers in health research which helps people to become more aware and conscious about health because public health information can spread in communities through social media with the help of these applications: – risk communication and emergency response. Although, some health professionals do not feel comfortable in uses of information technology but, they should use it in daily practice because nowadays, it has become a challenge for healthcare professionals to deal with health inequities without uses of information technology (Nambisan, P., Luo, Z., Kapoor, A., Patrick, T. B., & Cisler, R. A., 2015). Health informatics is the appropriate and innovative application of the concepts and technologies of the information age for the purposes of problem-solving, decision making, and improve the quality of health care. In this paper, it is required to talk about the learning results to following three different twitter accounts which are: @TheMarmotReview, @Telemedicine_Jn, and @Equitylist. The latest five weeks of public health-related information of these twitter accounts and its substance will be used in this paper for assessing the uses of twitter in the public health informatics field. This assessment is also dealing with the barriers of telemedicine in rural and remote Australia and provide recommendation for dealing with those challenges which can be useful to improve the productivity and efficiency of the health industry. TWITTER ACCOUNTSModern information and communication technologies (such as computers, the internet, and mobile phones) are using by individuals to exchange information, communication with each other and enriching their lives (Nambisan, P., Luo, Z., Kapoor, A., Patrick, T. B., & Cisler, R. A., 2015). These technologies are helpful for assessing the global health problems as public health organisations are tweeting updates while attending, as well as, reporting on current research being conducted. So far, social media is used for assessing and spreading public health information, but not much for gathering public health information (Nambisan, P., Luo, Z., Kapoor, A., Patrick, T. B., & Cisler, R. A., 2015). 1. Telemedicine journal – The main record @Telemedicine_Jn provides solutions for patient care and records management, peer-reviewed applications, industry news, and product reviews. Telemedicine application is an important tool for home healthcare, remote patient monitoring, and disease management, not only for rural health and battlefield care, but also for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and maritime and aviation settings. Telemedicine and e-health can improve health care with the involvement of clinical telemedicine practice, technical advances, medical connectivity, enabling technologies, education, health policy, and regulation, biomedical and health services research. Telemedicine tweeted on October 3, 2019, about “Use of Telehealth screening to detect Diabetic Retinopathy and other Ocular findings in Primary Care Settings”. This article is a retrospective study to determine the incidence of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and other ocular findings in previously diagnosed diabetic patients with uses of telehealth retinal screening in primary care physicians’ offices. This study is based on electronic chart review and all diabetic patients participated in telehealth retinal screening program from July 1, 2012 to February 20, 2017. In this study, the WEH Telehealth Screening Program identified DR in approximately one out of six patients and other ocular pathologies in over 25% of the diabetic population that received screenings in primary care offices. According to the result of this study, the early detection and routine eye care can prevent vision loss for diabetic retinopathy patients.2. Equity and Health- The thought process of twitter account @equitylist is related to public health, equity, and human development, and concentrating on the social determinants of wellbeing. The equity and health joined twitter account in March 2009. The one health-related report of Equity and Health is tweeted on October 28, 2019 about panic condition in Pakistan city after 900 children test positive for H.I.V. – via The New York Times by Zia ur-Rehman and Maria Abi-Habib. Nearly 900 children were bedridden early this year with fevers that resisted treatment and it was happened due to single pediatrician because he was reusing syringes on all children patients. According to health workers, the reuse of syringes drove the outbreak in the city of Ratodero. Other reasons for this disease in Pakistan are high illiteracy rates and low economics rates because most of the parents have no money to pay for a new one syringe, so the pediatrician was using an old syringe for testing another child which was already infected. Health workers noticed that many cases of doctors reusing syringes and I.V. needles. Such unhygienic practices are prevalent across Pakistan and the leading cause of the country ‘s surging rates of H.I.V. infection. According to estimates by UNAIDS, the number of H.I.V. positive people in Pakistan was almost doubled, to about 160,000. World Health Organization donated hundreds of testing kits and teams of international health workers from various countries came to help this city because the government was slow to respond to Ratodero’s outbreak and treat the sick. 3. IHE (Marmot Review)- Another twitter account is @TheMarmotReview which known as the institute of health equity. It is related to reducing the disparities of the medicinal services industry by concentrating on the social determinants of wellbeing. One of the posts of the last five weeks, one post was related to the final report of the commission of the pan American health organization on equity and health inequalities in the Americas. It was posted on twitter October 2, 2019, with involvement of evidence on drivers of health inequalities and practical recommendations and evidence from across Americas on how to tackle. However, the status of health has improved dramatically in the region of the Americas, but some of the people are being left behind. The report of evidence represents that much of the illness is due to the factors of social determination such as socioeconomic position, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability status. The other structural factors such as climate change, environmental threats, and the impact of colonialism and racism can contribute to marked inequalities in health on life. There is increasing evidence and awareness that good health requires not only access to health care but also action on the social determinants of health. With the help of this report, they can analyze the evidence of factors that impact the health of drivers and for that what they can take action to reduce the health inequalities. They seek to engage governments, civil society, and academics not only in the health sector but across all the social domains that influence health equity. BARRIERS TO THE UPTAKE OF TELEMEDICINE OF AUSTRALIATelemedicine has a potential to impact on the delivery of health care services in the all areas of world by migrating health care services particularly those which are away from hospitals and clinics into homes with the involvement of health care professionals (doctors, nurses, and specialists) by using telecommunications for diagnosis, treatment and the prevention of disease, research and evaluation, and for the improvement of medical education of health care providers (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 1993). It has involved the pre-recorded data between two or more individuals. For example, a patient sends an e-mail description about health issues to health care professionals who later send back an opinion related to diagnosis and optimal management. In addition, telemedicine applications have proven to be feasible, clinically useful, sustainable and scalable in developing and low economically developed countries (Moffat, J., 2011). Telemedicine is beneficial for improving the health care of patients who live in regional, rural, and remote areas. With rising healthcare costs in Australia, it is critical to examine ways in which telemedicine services can contribute to a reduction in health care spending. Unfortunately, there are some barriers funding, time, infrastructure, lack of equipment and technical skills, and a preference for the traditional approach which put effect on the effect of uptake of telemedicine in Australia. Money and time: The most prevalent barrier to the implementation of telemedicine was money as the costs of telemedicine were too high and 60 percent of countries with Australia were considered this the main barrier to the uptake of telemedicine (Moffat, J., 2011). Furthermore, the high investment is required for establishing telemedicine technology which is very expensive. There are many tasks involved for health care practitioners and the patient to deal with health issues but that tasks lead to the second uptake barrier which is time. For example, it has been assessed that tele-meeting requires more time and cost for a traditional consultation. Equipment skills: Most of the countries were more likely to identify a lack of knowledge of using the equipment for patient treatment as a barrier. It is necessary to have knowledge of using new equipment and how to use existing equipment in new ways. For example, most of the rural healthcare professionals have low confidence and low IT knowledge about technology and they don’t feel comfortable working with computers, modern gadgets, and consider technology extra work for them. Infrastructure: With regards to resource issues, rural and remote areas were generally more likely to consider the perceived high costs of telemedicine solutions, an underdeveloped infrastructure due to poor internet access in rural and remote areas, and a lack of technical expertise and support for telemedicine systems to be barriers to its implementation than urban areas (Moffat, J., 2011). Additionally, the unreliable and low wideband internet was an issue as a barrier because health care workers were not accessing proper information form patients due to low frequency. Telemedicine applications are needed high-speed and reliable internet for working smoothly but, in rural and remote areas, the speed of the internet is limited which can become barrier in transmitting patient’s files, records, pictures, and videos. Moreover, some doctors don’t want to learn technologies due to lack of confidence, they want to follow their traditional approach which can be associated with their life-experience. Recommendation According to the World Health Organization, telemedicine is a sustainable solution to the health care issues which are facing by rural and remote areas as telemedicine is the use of electronic communications and information technologies to provide clinical services when participants are at different locations (World Health Organization, 2011). However, telemedicine can improve the standard of health care system, particularly in rural and remote areas of Australia, as well as, in other under-service areas but, the cost of this technology can increase the extra burdens on the health budgets. To mitigate the barriers, providers must remain up to date on the regulations governing telemedicine services to ensure regulatory compliance and proper eligibility for reimbursement (Norris, A. C.,2001). A keen understanding should be established about virtual services and how those services are reimbursed for each payer is vital. Apart from this, telehealth technologies should give support to health care sectors, primary health care organizations, professional bodies, and agencies with the development of new health services through collaborative approach. All health care organizations should promote telehealth with the collaboration of medical practitioners, patients, and consumers with existing rurally based health services and modify Medicare rules so that rural general practitioners can do practice and make confident about this technology. Health care sectors and agencies should provide training of online interaction between patients and health services for booking, inquiries, reminders, prescribing and pre-consult assessment with proper coverage and safety (Curry, R. G., Norris, A. C., Parroy, S., & Melhuish, P. J., 1997). Moreover, with healthcare breaches on the rise, teams remain cautious of any patient data exposure risk. So, security protocols and routine audits should be placed to guard for security of patient’s health information. In addition to this, rural providers must receive adequate compensation for providing healthcare services, so they have enough money to support health staff and facilitate telehealth visits. Healthcare organizations must cultivate trust by educating patients about telemedicine and telehealth technologies and how they can get benefits from these technologies. Providers should also address security concerns with patients (Norris, A. C.,2001). Furthermore, it is important for healthcare organizations to have a strong connection to their patients and understand whether these factors may be creating a barrier where telehealth could prove beneficial for care. By implementing the telemedicine strategy, providers can overcome barriers and increasing the consumer demand for more convenient provider engagement options. CONCLUSIONPublic health professionals are using social media platforms, especially twitter, to facilitate professional development as it proves to be a vast source of information for public health. Despite so much development and successful work in the field of telemedicine, it has yet to become an integral part of healthcare delivery systems. It could be an important tool for achieving healthcare coordination and reducing health disparities. Now, it’s time to take telemedicine in the field of healthcare services from pilot mode to the routine operational mode for providing accessible affordable and quality healthcare to those people who are living in rural and remote areas. In order to ensure that engagement in telemedicine, healthcare providers will have to address and overcome the challenges. The patient should deserve to access the quality of care whether they are in rural communities and try to adopt new technologies for improvement of their healthcare. Some of these issues will solve with passing of time but, its never too late to petition for reform in the health IT industry. REFERENCES Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (1993). Telemedicine in Australia. Canberra: AIHW.Cesnik, B., & Kidd, M. R. (2010). History of health informatics: a global perspective. Stud Health Technol Inform, 151, 3-8.Curry, R. G., Norris, A. C., Parroy, S., & Melhuish, P. J. (1997). The strategic development and application of telemedicine. In APAMI-HIC 1997: Managing Information for Better Health Outcomes in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region: 11 to 13 August 1997, Asia Pacific Association of Medical Informatics, HISA: Conference Proceedings (p. 483). Health Informatics Society of Australia.Fernández-Luque, L., & Bau, T. (2015). Health and social media: perfect storm of information. Healthcare informatics research, 21(2), 67-73.Moffatt, J. J., & Eley, D. S. (2011). Barriers to the up-take of telemedicine in Australia-a view from providers. Rural and Remote Health Journal, 11(1581), 1-6.Nambisan, P., Luo, Z., Kapoor, A., Patrick, T. B., & Cisler, R. A. (2015, January). Social media, big data, and public health informatics: Ruminating behavior of depression revealed through twitter. In 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (pp. 2906-2913). IEEE.Norris, A. C. (2001). The strategic support of telemedicine and telecare. Health Informatics Journal, 7(2), 81-89.Ryan, P. (2011, April 4). Telemedicine taking-off in rural areas. ABC News. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-04-04/telemedicine-taking-off-in-ruralareas/2631070 World Health Organization (WHO). (2011). Telemedicine – Opportunities and developments in member states. In Global observatory for eHealth series: Vol. 2. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/goe/publications/ehealth_series_vol2/en/