Short answerConsumer health informatics

Electronic Healthcare Resources Discussion

Three named resources and three separate implications sections. The consumer implications are asked for last and separately, which is the signal that they are not the same as the industry ones.

Editorial process

Last reviewed · August 22, 2026

Written by

Maren Caldwell

MSN, RN, CNE

Medical-surgical nursing, pharmacology and NCLEX preparation

Reviewed by

Dr. Tessa Redmond

DNP, RN, CNE

Evidence-based practice and clinical education

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Interpret the task
Assignment instructions
Deliverables
Proposed outline
Research plan
Reference shortlist
Final review

Consumer implications are asked for separately for a reason

Choose the resources so they differ from each other, since three symptom checkers will produce one analysis repeated three times. A useful spread is an authoritative information site, a self-management or tracking application, and a service that connects consumers to care such as a portal or a telehealth platform. Describe each concretely: who publishes it, what it does, who pays for it, and whether its content is reviewed. That last point is doing real work, because the difference between a government health information service and an advertising-funded health site is a difference in incentive that surfaces again in the implications. An advertising-funded site has a reason to keep readers on the page, a subscription app has a reason to keep them logging in, and a public service has neither; those incentives shape the content in ways a consumer cannot see, and noticing them early gives the later sections something to build on.

The structure the brief sets is the assignment. Providers using these resources to enhance products and services is about the supply side: prescribing an application as part of a care plan, directing patients to a specific site so education is consistent, using portal messaging to reduce visits, and using engagement data. Industry implications are structural: new entrants and competition, shifting expectations of access, regulatory questions about which applications count as medical devices, and data as an asset. Consumer implications are asked for last and separately because they are not the same, and this is where an honest answer is stronger than a positive one. Consumers gain access, self-management support and the ability to arrive informed. They also face variable content quality, health data outside privacy protections when it sits with a consumer application rather than a covered provider, subscription costs, and a digital divide that widens for the older, poorer and rural patients who often need the service most.

Likely learning objectives

Select resources that differ in type rather than in brand.
Distinguish supply-side, structural and consumer-side implications.
Recognise that consumer health data may fall outside health privacy protection.
Treat the digital divide as an implication rather than a caveat.

Assignment instructions

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Review every instruction before using the planning guidance that follows.

Research two to three electronic health care resources. These could be websites, mobile applications, or multimedia resources used by health care consumers for their medical needs. Based on your research, write a 350- to 700-word summary in which you: Describe the websites, applications, or multimedia resources. Describe how health care providers use these resources to enhance their products and services. Explain the implications of using these resources in the health care industry. What are the implications for the consumer?

Course-wide instructions that accompany this question

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes. Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages. Electronic Healthcare Resources Discussion Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor. The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS Discussion Questions (DQ) Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words. Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source. One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words. I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses. Weekly Participation Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately. In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies. Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work). Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week. APA Format and Writing Quality Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required). Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation. I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition. Use of Direct Quotes I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly. As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content. It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source. LopesWrite Policy For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me. Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes. Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own? Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score. Late Policy The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies. Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances. If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect. I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension. As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading. Communication Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class. Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours. Electronic Healthcare Resources Discussion

Turn the brief into deliverables

01Two or three resources of genuinely different kinds.
02A description of each including publisher, funding and review process.
03How providers use them to enhance services.
04Industry-level implications.
05Consumer implications, stated separately.
06350 to 700 words.