Blockchain aplicado a Supply Chain / Blockchain applied to Supply Chain

A indústria 4.0 traz como principal objetivo interconectar todo o processo afim de melhorar a produção e suas vendas, tornando-os mais eficientes e flexíveis, criando valor para todas as fases do ciclo de vida de um produto em uma cadeia de suprimentos. Com esse novo cenário os ataques cibernéticos crescem gerando impactos financeiros negativos, e a partir dessa necessidade a tecnologia blockchain se torna um grande aliado. A tecnologia teve seu surgimento com a criptomoeda e hoje em dia abrange vários nichos de mercado, sendo que em todos consegue garantir níveis mais alto de automação, processos, flexibilidade e reduzir custos. Ainda em seu início de comercialização, o blockchain consegue revolucionar todos os diferentes aspectos dentro da cadeia de suprimentos, trazendo o que mais necessita na era 4.0: transparência, rastreabilidade, segurança e imutabilidade. Sendo assim, este estudo tem como objetivo discutir sobre as principais definições de blockchain e como pode auxiliar a cadeia de suprimentos. Para compor esse portifólio de informação foi utilizada a metodologia PRISMA que possibilitou encontrar os trabalhos mais relevantes. Assim os resultados desta revisão poderão ser usados de base para pesquisas futuras sobre a tecnologia e suas possibilidades

The Role of Wearable Sensors in the Future Primary Healthcare - Preferences of the Adult Swiss Population: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Wearable sensors have the potential to increase continuity of care and reduce healthcare expenditure. The user concerns and preferences regarding wearable sensors are the least addressed topic in related literature. Therefore, this study aimed first, to examine the preferences of the adult Swiss population regarding the use of wearable sensors in primary healthcare. Second, the study aimed to explain and learn more about these preferences and why such wearable sensors would or would not be used. An explanatory sequential design was used to reach the two aims. In the initial quantitative phase preferences of a nationwide survey were analyzed descriptively and a multivariable ordered logistic regression was used to identify key characteristics, that influence the preferences. In the second phase, eight semi-structured interviews were conducted. The cleaned study sample of the survey included 687 participants, 46% of whom gave a positive rating regarding the use of wearable sensors. In contrast, 44% gave a negative rating and 10% were neutral. The interviews showed that sensors should be small, not flashy and be compatible with everyday activities. Individuals without a current health risk or existing chronic disease showed lower preferences for using wearable sensors, particularly because they fear losing control over their own body. In contrast, individuals with increased risk or with an existing chronic disease were more likely to use wearable sensors as they can increase the personal safety and provide real-time health information to physicians. Therefore, an important deciding factor for and against the use of wearable sensors seems to be the perceived personal susceptibility for potential health problems

Τηλεακοολογία: απομακρυσμένη αποκατάσταση και ασφάλεια - Ιδιωτικότητα στις υπηρεσίες τηλεακοολογίας (Βιβλιογραφική ανασκόπηση – Scoping Review)

Εισαγωγή: Ο σκοπός αυτής της βιβλιογραφικής ανασκόπησης είναι διπλός: (1) Η παροχή πληροφοριών και η ποιοτική αξιολόγηση των άρθρων για τις υπηρεσίες που παρέχονται για την απομακρυσμένη ακουστική αποκατάσταση των ατόμων με πρόβλημα στην ακοή και (2) Η περιγραφή και η ποιοτική ανάλυση των άρθρων σχετικά με ασφάλεια και τη διασφάλιση της ιδιωτικότητας των δεδομένων των χρηστών που απολαμβάνουν απομακρυσμένη εξυπηρέτηση μέσω εφαρμογών, για ένα ευρύ φάσμα ακοολογικών υπηρεσιών. Μεθοδολογία: Έγινε αναζήτηση σε άρθρα επιστημονικών περιοδικών, σε λήμματα κατασκευαστριών εταιρειών, σε βιβλία και σε σχετικά αποτελέσματα από αναζητήσεις αυτών. Τέθηκαν ως συνθήκες αναζήτησης, τα άρθρα να βρίσκονται σε επιστημονικά περιοδικά, να είναι της τελευταίας δεκαετίας, να περιλαμβάνουν περίληψη και να είναι στην αγγλική γλώσσα. Κατόπιν, έγινε προεπισκόπηση των αποτελεσμάτων και ύστερα από την απόρριψη άρθρων που δεν εντάχθηκαν στα τελικά αποτελέσματα για λόγους που αναλύονται αναλυτικότερα στο κεφάλαιο της μεθοδολογίας, στα άρθρα που απομείναν έγινε ποιοτική ανάλυση, σύντομη περιγραφή και σχετικές κατηγοριοποιήσεις που παρατέθηκαν σε πίνακες. Τέλος, συζητήθηκαν τα αποτελέσματα αυτών των αναλύσεων. Αποτελέσματα: Ύστερα από την επιλεκτική αναζήτηση και τη διαλογή, βάσει των κριτηρίων που θέσαμε και της προεπισκόπησης των αποτελεσμάτων, καταλήξαμε να συμπεριλάβουμε 55 άρθρα, που πληρούσαν τις προϋποθέσεις ένταξης στην ανασκόπηση. Από αυτά, 26 αφορούν τις υπηρεσίες ακουστικής αποκατάστασης, 15 την ασφάλεια και τη διασφάλιση της ιδιωτικότητας, ενώ συμπεριλήφθηκαν 16 άρθρα στο γενικότερο φάσμα της «τηλε-υγείας» που συμπεριλαμβάνει την τηλεακοολογία, τα οποία είχαν ενδιαφέροντα δεδομένα σχετικά με τη θεματολογία. Από τις αναζητήσεις είδαμε ότι το κομμάτι της απομακρυσμένης ακουστικής αποκατάστασης είναι ένα συνεχώς αναπτυσσόμενο και επίκαιρο κομμάτι της ακοολογίας, το οποίο είναι δυνατόν να προσφέρει αποτελέσματα εφάμιλλα των δια ζώσης υπηρεσιών, ενώ σε πολλές περιπτώσεις προσφέρει σημαντικά οφέλη σε οικονομικούς τομείς, στον τομέα της ασφάλειας της ατομικής υγείας, στην εξοικονόμηση χρόνου κ.α. σε σχέση με τον κλασσικό τρόπο παράδοσης υπηρεσιών. Στο κομμάτι της ασφάλειας και διασφάλισης της ιδιωτικότητας, λόγω της προόδου της τεχνολογίας και τις ποικιλίας πρωτοκόλλων κρυπτογράφησης των δεδομένων που υπάρχουν, υπάρχουν πολλών ειδών υλοποιήσεις και προτάσεις για υλοποιήσεις, που κάθε μία έχει τα πλεονεκτήματα και τα μειονεκτήματά της, όπου όμως πλειοψηφικά καταφέρνουν και προσφέρουν ένα καλό ποσοστό ασφάλειας. Επίσης, οι ολοένα και αυστηρότεροι κανονισμοί και νόμοι σχετικά με τη διασφάλιση ευαίσθητων προσωπικών δεδομένων, θέτουν προβληματισμούς στους χρήστες και στους παρόχους και δρουν πολλές φορές ανασταλτικά για τη χρήση των υπηρεσιών της τηλεακοολογίας. Συζήτηση: Οι προσφερόμενες υπηρεσίες απομακρυσμένης εξυπηρέτησης και οι δυνατότητες για τους χρήστες ακουστικών βαρηκοΐας, κοχλιακών εμφυτευμάτων, καθώς και για τους χρήστες λοιπών μεθόδων αποκατάστασης ολοένα και αυξάνονται. Παρότι η γενικότερη χρήση είναι περιορισμένη λόγω έλλειψης εκπαίδευσης, ιδιαίτερα λόγω των πρόσφατων περιοριστικών συνθηκών όλο και περισσότεροι χρήστες και φροντιστές έχουν αρχίσει και εντάσσουν στον τρόπο εργασίας τους την απομακρυσμένη εξυπηρέτηση. Η σημασία της ασφάλειας στις υπηρεσίες αυτές και η ποικιλία που υπάρχει στις υλοποιήσεις, σε συνδυασμό με τους αυστηρότερους νόμους και κανονισμούς για τη διασφάλιση της ιδιωτικότητας, ειδικά εφόσον πρόκειται για απομακρυσμένη ανταλλαγή πληροφοριών, καταδεικνύουν την ανάγκη για τη δημιουργία και εφαρμογή κατευθυντήριων οδηγιών για τις ελάχιστες προϋποθέσεις των συστημάτων για την παροχή των απομακρυσμένων υπηρεσιών. Συμπεράσματα: Τα αποτελέσματα της συγκεκριμένης βιβλιογραφικής ανασκόπησης είναι θετικά για την μέχρι τώρα εξέλιξη των υπηρεσιών της τηλεακοολογίας στην αποκατάσταση και της περαιτέρω καθιέρωσής τους στο μέλλον στην καθημερινή ρουτίνα των παρόχων και των χρηστών. Τα συστήματα παροχής των υπηρεσιών έχουν τις βασικές υποδομές για την ασφαλή παροχή αυτών και τη διασφάλιση των δεδομένων των χρηστών, χρειάζεται όμως παρόλα αυτά η δημιουργία και η εφαρμογή ενιαίων κατευθυντήριων γραμμών για την υλοποίηση των συστημάτων.Introduction: This scoping review has a two-fold purpose: (1) To supply information and provide a qualitative analysis of the remote aural rehabilitation services that are offered to both patients and care givers and (2) To describe and provide a qualitative analysis of the articles regarding network security of the system implementations and personal data privacy of the users, that are engaged into remote audiology for a wide spectrum of applications. Methods: We searched among articles in scientific journals, manufacturers’ specification brochures, books and other relevant results that came up after searching at the previously mentioned sources. As search criteria for article inclusions, we set the origin of the articles to be scientific journals, the publishment date had to be between 2010-2020, the language of the article had to be in English and the presence of an abstract was mandatory. Then, a screening of the articles took place and after rejecting irrelevant ones, for reasons that are explained more thorough in the chapter of results, a brief total qualitative analysis and description of the studies took place, while the key elements of the articles were categorized via various scopes and were presented in summarized charts accordingly. Results: After the selective search and picking process, based on the search criteria we had set and the screening of the articles, we ended up including (n=55) articles, that qualified for this scoping review. Of them, (n=26) articles were selected for the aural rehabilitation part, (n=15) articles for network security and personal data privacy, while (n=16) articles were in the broader spectrum of telehealth, which includes teleaudiology, that presented interesting data on our scopes. We saw that remote aural rehabilitation is both an evolving and well-timed part of audiology, which is capable of offering similar results compared to in-person services, while in many cases it offers significant benefits in financial, personal health, time saving etc sections compared to the classical approach. Regarding network security and data privacy, due to the technological advancements and the variety of data encryption protocols that exist, there are several implementations (and several proposals as well), which all have their pros and cons, but in a general view all of them can perform adequately in providing the result needed. In addition, more strict regulations and laws come up, related to the insurance of sensitive personal data, fact that cause skepticism to both users and providers and act suspensively to the use of the remote services. Discussion: The potential and the remote services for the users of Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants and the rest rehabilitation ways, are constantly increasing and being improved in all aspects. Even though the total use of these kind of services is low, mostly due to lack of training and education, given the latest circumstances of people having difficulties in travelling, more and more care-givers have begun to implement remote services in their daily practice in order to provide remote services. The importance of safety in these services and the plurality of system implementations, in combinations with the stricter laws and regulations for personal data privacy, show the need for creating and applying a set of unified guidelines of minimum requirements for the remote services systems. Conclusion: The results of this scoping review are positive and encouraging for the current situation in rehabilitation services in teleaudiology and for the further establishment in the care-givers’ everyday routine. Remote audiology systems’ infrastructure fulfils the basic elements for the secure provision of such services and the personal data privacy preservation. However, the creation and application of a set of unified guidelines for the systems’ implementation, in accordance to regulations and laws is recommended

A Security Framework for Nationwide Health Information Exchange based on Telehealth Strategy

This study focuses on the situation of health information exchange (HIE) in the context of a nationwide network. It aims to create a security framework that can be implemented to ensure the safe transmission of health information across the boundaries of care providers in Malaysia and other countries. First, a critique of the major elements of nationwide health information networks is presented from the perspective of security, along with such topics as the importance of HIE, issues, and main approaches. Second, a systematic evaluation is conducted on the security solutions that can be utilized in the proposed nationwide network. Finally, a secure framework for health information transmission is proposed within a central cloud-based model, which is compatible with the Malaysian telehealth strategy. The outcome of this analysis indicates that a complete security framework for a global structure of HIE is yet to be defined and implemented. Our proposed framework represents such an endeavor and suggests specific techniques to achieve this goal

An ICT framework to support a patient-centric approach in public healthcare : A case study of Malawi

The proliferation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) worldwide has enhanced the amelioration of the quality of healthcare services. There is evidence that the adoption of electronic health (e-health) and mobile health (m-health) technologies has transformed the healthcare domain by improving the efficiency of healthcare service delivery. Digitising health ecosystems has culminated in increased access to healthcare services, even for remote rural areas. The application of ICTs in the healthcare sector has reduced the overall costs of healthcare services. However, developing countries, such as Malawi, face a plethora of challenges in implementing ICT initiatives in the public health sector. Although Malawi deploys several e-health systems, most are fragmented and, therefore, not interoperable. In addition, many m-health interventions are still in the pilot phase, and the Government does not manage them centrally. These challenges are further exacerbated by a lack of appropriate policy and regulatory framework, insufficient human capacity and development, inadequate financial resources, and poor ICT governance in the public healthcare sector. Furthermore, the current provider-centred approach to healthcare service delivery does not fully meet the needs of health consumers. It is, therefore, not surprising that the dearth of an ICT framework for patient-centric healthcare services has made coordination and management of ICT interventions less sustainable, less health consumer-centric and less cost-effective. Unlike the provider-centred approach, patient-centric healthcare empowers health consumers with health information to control their own health and well-being. A patient-centric healthcare approach provides treatment and care to health consumers based on their preferences, values, and beliefs. It is, therefore, cost-effective as it takes a preventive approach rather than a curative one. An ICT framework is proposed to support patient-centric healthcare services in the public healthcare sector in Malawi. A comprehensive literature review and analysis was succinctly conducted to gain an understanding of the Malawi health landscape and patient healthcare approaches. Semi-structured interviews were also undertaken to solicit information from various key v stakeholders such as policymakers, software developers, health consumers, and healthcare providers. Design science research paradigm coupled with pragmatism was then followed to develop the ICT framework, which will ultimately support patient-centric healthcare services in the public sector in Malawi. This methodology assists in solving social problems in a specific context by providing technology-based solutions in the form of an artefact. Experts in various disciplines domiciled in Malawi validated the ICT framework, as an artefact, for its relevance and applicability. The results showed that the framework is appropriate and relevant in the public healthcare sector in Malawi. This study contributes to design science research methodology as it addressed the improvement quadrant described by Gregor and Hevner. It also contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a design science artefact in the form of an ICT framework. It is envisaged that the proposed ICT framework will assist the Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders in providing quality patient-centric healthcare services in the public healthcare in Malawi.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 202

An ICT framework to support a patient-centric approach in public healthcare : A case study of Malawi

vital:59285The proliferation of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) worldwide has enhanced the amelioration of the quality of healthcare services. There is evidence that the adoption of electronic health (e-health) and mobile health (m-health) technologies has transformed the healthcare domain by improving the efficiency of healthcare service delivery. Digitising health ecosystems has culminated in increased access to healthcare services, even for remote rural areas. The application of ICTs in the healthcare sector has reduced the overall costs of healthcare services. However, developing countries, such as Malawi, face a plethora of challenges in implementing ICT initiatives in the public health sector. Although Malawi deploys several e-health systems, most are fragmented and, therefore, not interoperable. In addition, many m-health interventions are still in the pilot phase, and the Government does not manage them centrally. These challenges are further exacerbated by a lack of appropriate policy and regulatory framework, insufficient human capacity and development, inadequate financial resources, and poor ICT governance in the public healthcare sector. Furthermore, the current provider-centred approach to healthcare service delivery does not fully meet the needs of health consumers. It is, therefore, not surprising that the dearth of an ICT framework for patient-centric healthcare services has made coordination and management of ICT interventions less sustainable, less health consumer-centric and less cost-effective. Unlike the provider-centred approach, patient-centric healthcare empowers health consumers with health information to control their own health and well-being. A patient-centric healthcare approach provides treatment and care to health consumers based on their preferences, values, and beliefs. It is, therefore, cost-effective as it takes a preventive approach rather than a curative one. An ICT framework is proposed to support patient-centric healthcare services in the public healthcare sector in Malawi. A comprehensive literature review and analysis was succinctly conducted to gain an understanding of the Malawi health landscape and patient healthcare approaches. Semi-structured interviews were also undertaken to solicit information from various key v stakeholders such as policymakers, software developers, health consumers, and healthcare providers. Design science research paradigm coupled with pragmatism was then followed to develop the ICT framework, which will ultimately support patient-centric healthcare services in the public sector in Malawi. This methodology assists in solving social problems in a specific context by providing technology-based solutions in the form of an artefact. Experts in various disciplines domiciled in Malawi validated the ICT framework, as an artefact, for its relevance and applicability. The results showed that the framework is appropriate and relevant in the public healthcare sector in Malawi. This study contributes to design science research methodology as it addressed the improvement quadrant described by Gregor and Hevner. It also contributes to the existing body of knowledge by providing a design science artefact in the form of an ICT framework. It is envisaged that the proposed ICT framework will assist the Ministry of Health and other key stakeholders in providing quality patient-centric healthcare services in the public healthcare in Malawi.Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment, and Technology, 202