Mobile platform-independent solutions for body sensor network interface

Body Sensor Networks (BSN) appeared as an application of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) to medicine and biofeedback. Such networks feature smart sensors (biosensors) that capture bio-physiological parameters from people and can offer an easy way for data collection. A new BSN platform called Sensing Health with Intelligence Modularity, Mobility and Experimental Reusability (SHIMMER) presents an excellent opportunity to put the concept into practice, with suitable size and weight, while also supporting wireless communication via Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 standards. BSNs also need suitable interfaces for data processing, presentation, and storage for latter retrieval, as a result one can use Bluetooth technology to communicate with several more powerful and Graphical User Interface (GUI)-enabled devices such as mobile phones or regular computers. Taking into account that people currently use mobile and smart phones, it offers a good opportunity to propose a suitable mobile system for BSN SHIMMER-based networks. This dissertation proposes a mobile system solution with different versions created to the four major smart phone platforms: Symbian, Windows Mobile, iPhone, and Android. Taking into account that, currently, iPhone does not support Java, and Java cannot match a native solution in terms of performance in other platforms such as Android or Symbian, a native approach with similar functionality must be followed. Then, four mobile applications were created, evaluated and validated, and they are ready for use

Paediatric radiology seen from Africa. Part I: providing diagnostic imaging to a young population

Article approval pendingPaediatric radiology requires dedicated equipment, specific precautions related to ionising radiation, and specialist knowledge. Developing countries face difficulties in providing adequate imaging services for children. In many African countries, children represent an increasing proportion of the population, and additional challenges follow from extreme living conditions, poverty, lack of parental care, and exposure to tuberculosis, HIV, pneumonia, diarrhoea and violent trauma. Imaging plays a critical role in the treatment of these children, but is expensive and difficult to provide. The World Health Organisation initiatives, of which the World Health Imaging System for Radiography (WHIS-RAD) unit is one result, needs to expand into other areas such as the provision of maintenance servicing. New initiatives by groups such as Rotary and the World Health Imaging Alliance to install WHIS-RAD units in developing countries and provide digital solutions, need support. Paediatric radiologists are needed to offer their services for reporting, consultation and quality assurance for free by way of teleradiology. Societies for paediatric radiology are needed to focus on providing a volunteer teleradiology reporting group, information on child safety for basic imaging, guidelines for investigations specific to the disease spectrum, and solutions for optimising imaging in children

Mobile Telemedicine for Diabetes Care

Diabetes Mellitus is nowadays one of the most frequent non-contagious diseases in the world and remains a major health problem for the national health care programs. It is well proved that Telemedicine helps diabetic patients controlling their glucose levels, facilitating their day to-day therapy management and the communication with health care personnel. The rapid growth and development of information technologies in the areas of mobile computing and mobile Internet is shaping a new technological scenario of telemedicine and shared care systems. In this chapter we will show one approach to Mobile Telemedicine for Diabetes Care

The Second International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Message from the Conference Co-Chairs B. Han and S. Falan …………………………....….……………. 5 II. Message from the Transactions Editor H. Lee …...………..………….......………….……….………….... 7 III. Referred Papers A. Emerging Health Information Technology and Applications The Role of Mobile Technology in Enhancing the Use of Personal Health Records Mohamed Abouzahra and Joseph Tan………………….……………. 9 Mobile Health Information Technology and Patient Care: Methods, Themes, and Research Gaps Bahae Samhan, Majid Dadgar, and K. D. Joshi…………..…. 18 A Balanced Perspective to Perioperative Process Management Jim Ryan, Barbara Doster, Sandra Daily, and Carmen Lewis…..….…………… 30 The Impact of Big Data on the Healthcare Information Systems Kuo Lane Chen and Huei Lee………….…………… 43 B. Health Care Communication, Literacy, and Patient Care Quality Digital Illness Narratives: A New Form of Health Communication Jofen Han and Jo Wiley…..….……..…. 47 Relationships, Caring, and Near Misses: Michael’s Story Sharie Falan and Bernard Han……………….…..…. 53 What is Your Informatics Skills Level? -- The Reliability of an Informatics Competency Measurement Tool Xiaomeng Sun and Sharie Falan.….….….….….….…. 61 C. Health Information Standardization and Interoperability Standardization Needs for Effective Interoperability Marilyn Skrocki…………………….…….………….… 76 Data Interoperability and Information Security in Healthcare Reid Berryman, Nathan Yost, Nicholas Dunn, and Christopher Edwards.…. 84 Michigan Health Information Network (MiHIN) Shared Services vs. the HIE Shared Services in Other States Devon O’Toole, Sean O’Toole, and Logan Steely…..……….…… 94 D. Health information Security and Regulation A Threat Table Based Approach to Telemedicine Security John C. Pendergrass, Karen Heart, C. Ranganathan, and V.N. Venkatakrishnan …. 104 Managing Government Regulatory Requirements for Security and Privacy Using Existing Standard Models Gregory Schymik and Dan Shoemaker…….…….….….… 112 Challenges of Mobile Healthcare Application Security Alan Rea………………………….……………. 118 E. Healthcare Management and Administration Analytical Methods for Planning and Scheduling Daily Work in Inpatient Care Settings: Opportunities for Research and Practice Laila Cure….….……………..….….….….… 121 Predictive Modeling in Post-reform Marketplace Wu-Chyuan Gau, Andrew France, Maria E. Moutinho, Carl D. Smith, and Morgan C. Wang…………...…. 131 A Study on Generic Prescription Substitution Policy as a Cost Containment Approach for Michigan’s Medicaid System Khandaker Nayeemul Islam…….…...……...………………….… 140 F. Health Information Technology Quality Assessment and Medical Service Delivery Theoretical, Methodological and Practical Challenges in Designing Formative Evaluations of Personal eHealth Tools Michael S. Dohan and Joseph Tan……………….……. 150 The Principles of Good Health Care in the U.S. in the 2010s Andrew Targowski…………………….……. 161 Health Information Technology in American Medicine: A Historical Perspective Kenneth A. Fisher………………….……. 171 G. Health Information Technology and Medical Practice Monitoring and Assisting Maternity-Infant Care in Rural Areas (MAMICare) Juan C. Lavariega, Gustavo Córdova, Lorena G Gómez, Alfonso Avila….… 175 An Empirical Study of Home Healthcare Robots Adoption Using the UTUAT Model Ahmad Alaiad, Lina Zhou, and Gunes Koru.…………………….….………. 185 HDQM2: Healthcare Data Quality Maturity Model Javier Mauricio Pinto-Valverde, Miguel Ángel Pérez-Guardado, Lorena Gomez-Martinez, Martha Corrales-Estrada, and Juan Carlos Lavariega-Jarquín.… 199 IV. A List of Reviewers …………………………..…….………………………208 V. WMU – IT Forum 2014 Call for Papers …..…….…………………20

Developing sustainable business models for institutions’ provision of open educational resources: Learning from OpenLearn users’ motivations and experiences

Universities across the globe have, for some time, been exploring the possibilities for achieving public benefit and generating business and visibility through releasing and sharing open educational resources (OER). Many have written about the need to develop sustainable and profitable business models around the production and release of OER. Downes (2006), for example, has questioned the financial sustainability of OER production at scale. Many of the proposed business models focus on OER’s value in generating revenue and detractors of OER have questioned whether they are in competition with formal education. This paper reports on a study intended to broaden the conversation about OER business models to consider the motivations and experiences of OER users as the basis for making a better informed decision about whether OER and formal learning are competitive or complementary with each other. The study focused on OpenLearn - the Open University’s (OU) web-based platform for OER, which hosts hundreds of online courses and videos and is accessed by over 3,000,000 users a year. A large scale survey and follow-up interviews with OpenLearn users worldwide revealed that university provided OER can offer learners a bridge to formal education, allowing them to try out a subject before registering on a formal course and to build confidence in their abilities as learners. In addition, it was found that using OER during formal paid-for study can improve learners’ performance and self-reliance, leading to increased retention and satisfaction with the learning experience

The \u27Uberization\u27 of Healthcare: The Forthcoming Legal Storm Over Mobile Health Technology\u27s Impact on the Medical Profession

The nascent field of mobile health technology is still very small but is predicted to grow exponentially as major technology companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and even Facebook have announced mobile health initiatives alongside influential healthcare provider networks. Given the highly regulated nature of healthcare, significant legal barriers stand in the way of mobile health’s potential ascension. I contend that the most difficult legal challenges facing this industry will be restrictive professional licensing and scope of practice laws. The primary reason is that mobile health threatens to disrupt historical power dynamics within the healthcare profession that have legally enshrined physicians as the primary decision-makers and economic earners within the healthcare industry. In the near term, mobile health represents a potential redistribution of medical authority and financial power to technology companies and lesser-trained medical providers (nurses, physician assistants, etc.) at the expense of physicians. In the long-term, mobile health threatens to transform healthcare into a primarily “providerless” service, in the same fashion mobile taxi app company Uber envisions “driverless” taxis. Therefore, I conclude that while mobile health holds out tantalizing potential to improve upon the cost and accessibility of healthcare, there will be significant resistance to licensing and scope of practice reforms until broader political economy questions concerning the long-term viability of the medical profession are answered

The \u27Uberization\u27 of Healthcare: The Forthcoming Legal Storm Over Mobile Health Technology\u27s Impact on the Medical Profession

The nascent field of mobile health technology is still very small but is predicted to grow exponentially as major technology companies such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and even Facebook have announced mobile health initiatives alongside influential healthcare provider networks. Given the highly regulated nature of healthcare, significant legal barriers stand in the way of mobile health’s potential ascension. I contend that the most difficult legal challenges facing this industry will be restrictive professional licensing and scope of practice laws. The primary reason is that mobile health threatens to disrupt historical power dynamics within the healthcare profession that have legally enshrined physicians as the primary decision-makers and economic earners within the healthcare industry. In the near term, mobile health represents a potential redistribution of medical authority and financial power to technology companies and lesser-trained medical providers (nurses, physician assistants, etc.) at the expense of physicians. In the long-term, mobile health threatens to transform healthcare into a primarily “providerless” service, in the same fashion mobile taxi app company Uber envisions “driverless” taxis. Therefore, I conclude that while mobile health holds out tantalizing potential to improve upon the cost and accessibility of healthcare, there will be significant resistance to licensing and scope of practice reforms until broader political economy questions concerning the long-term viability of the medical profession are answered

Open educational resources for all? Comparing user motivations and characteristics across The Open University’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform.

With the rise in access to mobile multimedia devices, educational institutions have exploited the iTunes U platform as an additional channel to provide free educational resources with the aim of profile-raising and breaking down barriers to education. For those prepared to invest in content preparation, it is possible to produce interactive, portable material that can be made available globally. Commentators have questioned both the financial implications for platform-specific content production, and the availability of devices for learners to access it (Osborne, 2012). The Open University (OU) makes its free educational resources available on iTunes U and via its web-based open educational resources (OER) platform, OpenLearn. The OU’s OER on iTunes U reached the 60 million download mark in 2013; its OpenLearn platform boasts 27 million unique visitors since 2006. This paper reports the results of a large-scale study of users of the OU’s iTunes U channel and OpenLearn platform. A survey of several thousand users revealed key differences in demographics between those accessing OER via the web and via iTunes U. In addition, the data allowed comparison between three groups: formal learners, informal learners and educators. The study raises questions about whether university-provided OER meet the needs of users and makes recommendations for how content can be modified to suit their needs. As the publishing of OER becomes core to business, we reflect on reasons why understanding users’ motivations and demographics is vital, allowing for needs-led resource provision and content that is adapted to best achieve learner satisfaction, and to deliver institutions’ social mission

Digital health and inequalities in access to health services in Bangladesh: Mixed methods study

Background: Globally, the rapid growth of technology and its use as a development solution has generated much interest in digital health. In line with global trends, Bangladesh is also integrating technology into its health system to address disparities. Strong political endorsement and uptake of digital platforms by the government has influenced the rapid proliferation of such initiatives in the country. This paper aims to examine the implications of digital health on access to health care in Bangladesh, considering who uses electronic devices to access health information and services and why. Objective: This study aims to understand how access to health care and related information through electronic means (digital health) is affected by sociodemographic determinants (ie, age, gender, education, socioeconomic status, and personal and household ownership of mobile phones) in a semiurban community in Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 854 households (between October 2013 and February 2014) and 20 focus group discussions (between February 2017 and March 2017) were conducted to understand (1) who owns electronic devices; (2) who, among the owners, uses these to access health information and services and why; (3) the awareness of electronic sources of health information; and (4) the role of intermediaries (family members or peers who helped to look for health information using electronic devices). Results: A total of 90.3% (771/854) of households (471/854, 55.2% of respondents) owned electronic devices, mostly mobile phones. Among these, 7.2% (34/471) used them to access health information or services. Middle-aged (35-54 years), female, less (or not) educated, and poorer people used these devices the least (α=.05, α is the level of significance). The lack of awareness, discomfort, differences with regular care-seeking habits, lack of understanding and skills, and proximity to a health facility were the main reasons for not using devices to access digital health. Conclusions: Although influenced by sociodemographic traits, access to digital health is not merely related to device ownership and technical skill. Rather, it is a combination of general health literacy, phone ownership, material resources, and technical skill as well as social recognition of health needs and inequity. This study’s findings should serve as a basis for better integrating technology within the health system and ensuring equitable access to health care

A Wearable Platform for Patient Monitoring during Mass Casualty Incidents

Based on physiological data, intelligent algorithms can assist with the classification and recognition of the most severely impaired victims. This book presents a new sensorbased triage platform with the main proposal to join different sensor and communications technologies into a portable device. This new device must be able to assist the rescue units along with the tactical planning of the operation. This work discusses the implementation and the evaluation of the platform