E-Health: Value Proposition and Technologies Enabling Collaborative Healthcare

E-health, enabled by ubiquitous computing and communication technologies, is facilitating a fundamental shift in the age old praxis of healthcare. It is revolutionizing healthcare in the 21st century in much the same way as the arrival of modern medicine and vaccines did in the 19th century. E-health lies at the intersection of diverse disciplines including healthcare, computer science, information systems, economics, and political science. The broad impact of E-health on diverse domains, complexity of supporting technologies, and the dizzying interplay of theories bridging multiple disciplines creates a rich problem space for information system researchers and calls on to conduct cross-disciplinary research. In the current paper we present salient characteristics of e-health and discuss its value proposition. The value proposition of e-health presents the entire range of processes supporting the healthcare sector. We also present research opportunities as e-health takes center stage in the delivery of healthcare

Enabling superior m-health project success: a tricountry validation

The healthcare industry is facing increasing pressures to embrace new technologies that support greater patient access to, and higher quality of (but at the same time offer cost-effective), healthcare delivery. This pressure has spawned a plethora of initiatives to embrace the possibilities and potentials of technologies to develop and then diffuse new devices, new pharmaceutical products and support minimal invasive surgical techniques that will facilitate superior healthcare delivery

Strengthening institutional architecture to support the small-medium enterprises to make Macedonian economy more competitive in global challenges

The problem of low competitiveness is permanently present in the economy. The increase of the competitive ability in the economy, also in Macedonians enterprises is a very complex problem that requires more comprehensive and long-term measures for its solution. It needs certain engagement of state institutions, the enterprises and as well as the higher education and science. The institutional architecture for the support of the SME (small-medium enterprises) sector was implementing different strategies in a wide range of policies that define and create an environment for SME. The results are: Macedonia is top business reformer, ranking a 6th place in the ranking of 183 economies on ease of starting a business

A new track for technology: Can ICT take care for healthier lifestyles?

The paper takes a look on potential contribution of Information and Communication Technologies to abate public health challenges caused by demographics and lifestyle. From the current convergence of mhealth, and sport market products emerge targeting normal athletes to control their training in a quantified manner. The resulting feedback and transparency foster a healthier lifestyle. These products and services help overcome limitations to innovation typical to the health care market. The paper is based on research by the European Commission's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies on Integrated Personal Health/Care services. --eHealth,Integrated Personal Health/Care services,sport,training,lifestyle related disease,innovation

A Wireless ECG Monitoring System for Healthcare

With aging of population, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. This results in an increased cost of healthcare associated with hospitalization, treatment and monitoring. In this paper, an architectural framework of a system that utilizes mobile technologies to enable continuous, wireless, electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring of patients anytime anywhere is presented. The intelligent agents residing in the system detect any anomalous ECG readings and trigger an alarm that would be sent to the healthcare center in case of an emergency. The proposed system would not only provide a better quality of life to the patients by giving them the independence to move around freely in addition to continuous monitoring of heart but will also save healthcare costs associated with prolonged hospitalization of cardiac patients

A Pervasive Technology Solution for Diabetes Using Gestational Diabetes as a Model

Diabetes is one of the leading chronic diseases affecting Australians and its prevalence continues to rise. Diabetes is therefore becoming a serious challenge for both the quality of healthcare and expenditure in the Australian healthcare system. The goal of this study is to investigate the development and application of a pervasive wireless technology solution to facilitate the effective management of diabetic patients, using the context of the care of women with gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that affects up to 8% of pregnant women as a test case. Integral to the success of this solution is the unique software technology developed by INET to enable mobile phones to facilitate superior diabetes self-management

Usage of a Mobile Medical Information System: An Investigation of Physicians in the Military Service

This paper sets out to investigate military physicians’ perceptions and usage regarding a mobile medical information system during their military service in the Finnish Defence Forces. Data were gathered in September and December of 2005 by two semi-structured surveys. The military physicians (n=31) had positive perceptions of the mobile system, and have used it in their daily military training. They showed a few negative opinions on the usefulness of the system in the real military field conditions and crisis situations. They favoured using the mobile system to support their learning and training, and keep their medical knowledge up-to-date anywhere and anytime. Insights of the findings and implications for system improvement are discussed

Riding Circuit: Bringing the Law to Those Who Need It

This article surveys the Access to Justice movement in the United States and proposes including more types of professionals to develop longer term solutions that will alleviate barriers to the court system. This article discusses the need to expand the access to justice concept to reach beyond the courthouse to address civil legal issues before they blossom into litigation. Mobile outreach providing preventive lawyering and early treatment of societal problems can prevent delays and the bottleneck that many courts are seeing with the vast numbers of Self-Represented Litigants. A team of professionals including lawyers, social workers, nurses, counselors, translators and law librarians, working with a network of public librarians, can make a significant impact into the everyday lives of the working poor and folk of modest means in underserved areas