A systematic literature review of cloud computing in eHealth

Cloud computing in eHealth is an emerging area for only few years. There needs to identify the state of the art and pinpoint challenges and possible directions for researchers and applications developers. Based on this need, we have conducted a systematic review of cloud computing in eHealth. We searched ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Inspec, ISI Web of Science and Springer as well as relevant open-access journals for relevant articles. A total of 237 studies were first searched, of which 44 papers met the Include Criteria. The studies identified three types of studied areas about cloud computing in eHealth, namely (1) cloud-based eHealth framework design (n=13); (2) applications of cloud computing (n=17); and (3) security or privacy control mechanisms of healthcare data in the cloud (n=14). Most of the studies in the review were about designs and concept-proof. Only very few studies have evaluated their research in the real world, which may indicate that the application of cloud computing in eHealth is still very immature. However, our presented review could pinpoint that a hybrid cloud platform with mixed access control and security protection mechanisms will be a main research area for developing citizen centred home-based healthcare applications

Toward a framework for data quality in cloud-based health information system

This Cloud computing is a promising platform for health information systems in order to reduce costs and improve accessibility. Cloud computing represents a shift away from computing being purchased as a product to be a service delivered over the Internet to customers. Cloud computing paradigm is becoming one of the popular IT infrastructures for facilitating Electronic Health Record (EHR) integration and sharing. EHR is defined as a repository of patient data in digital form. This record is stored and exchanged securely and accessible by different levels of authorized users. Its key purpose is to support the continuity of care, and allow the exchange and integration of medical information for a patient. However, this would not be achieved without ensuring the quality of data populated in the healthcare clouds as the data quality can have a great impact on the overall effectiveness of any system. The assurance of the quality of data used in healthcare systems is a pressing need to help the continuity and quality of care. Identification of data quality dimensions in healthcare clouds is a challenging issue as data quality of cloud-based health information systems arise some issues such as the appropriateness of use, and provenance. Some research proposed frameworks of the data quality dimensions without taking into consideration the nature of cloud-based healthcare systems. In this paper, we proposed an initial framework that fits the data quality attributes. This framework reflects the main elements of the cloud-based healthcare systems and the functionality of EHR

Mobile Cloud Computing Model and Big Data Analysis for Healthcare Applications

Mobile devices are increasingly becoming an indispensable part of people\u27s daily life, facilitating to perform a variety of useful tasks. Mobile cloud computing integrates mobile and cloud computing to expand their capabilities and benefits and overcomes their limitations, such as limited memory, CPU power, and battery life. Big data analytics technologies enable extracting value from data having four Vs: volume, variety, velocity, and veracity. This paper discusses networked healthcare and the role of mobile cloud computing and big data analytics in its enablement. The motivation and development of networked healthcare applications and systems is presented along with the adoption of cloud computing in healthcare. A cloudlet-based mobile cloud-computing infrastructure to be used for healthcare big data applications is described. The techniques, tools, and applications of big data analytics are reviewed. Conclusions are drawn concerning the design of networked healthcare systems using big data and mobile cloud-computing technologies. An outlook on networked healthcare is given

Exploring Cloud Computing Implementation Issues in Healthcare Industry

Nowadays, cloud computing—as a flexible, collaborative, cost effective and scalable computational approach—is being applied within different public and private organizations. Furthermore, the use of cloud-based applications is becoming more widespread on both the organizational and individual level than it has been in the past. Healthcare is one discipline that could benefit from cloud-based applications; however, because of various privacy and security issues, it has been adopted more slowly than in many other disciplines. The purpose of this preliminary study is to investigate the related literature in order to explore the cloud computing implementation issues in the healthcare industry. Technological, Organizational, Environmental and Human factors are considered as the most important factors in implementing cloud computing in healthcare. The early framework for implementing cloud applications in healthcare is addressed to administrators and healthcare managers at the end of this study; however, the complementary study will be needed in the future to examine our hypotheses and research questions with collected data

Building cloud-based healthcare data mining services

The linkage between healthcare service and cloud computing techniques has drawn much attention lately. Up to the present, most works focus on IT system migration and the management of distributed healthcare data rather than taking advantage of information hidden in the data. In this paper, we propose to explore healthcare data via cloud-based healthcare data mining services. Specifically, we propose a cloud-based healthcare data mining framework for healthcare data mining service development. Under such framework, we further develop a cloud-based healthcare data mining service to predict patients future length of stay in hospital

Investigation of the viability of an integrated cloud-based electronic medical record for health clinics in Free State, South Africa

Thesis (Master of Information Technology) -- Central University of Technology, Free State, 2019The use of paper-based medical records leads to gaps in patient healthcare. Paper-based records are prone to challenges such as lack of real-time access to patient data, and inability to share and exchange medical data among different health institutions. A solution to address most of the challenges associated with paper-based medical records is to have an information system, such as an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. EMRs have proven to be more complete and quicker to access as opposed to paper records. Although EMRs may help resolve some of the problems with paper-based medical records, if the EMR systems are not linked or integrated, the problem of real-time accessibility and exchange of patient data remains unresolved. This leads to challenges in monitoring a patient’s health progress and providing continuity of care. The emerging cloud-computing model, which leverages the Internet to allow the sharing of IT resources as online services, may offer a cost-effective solution of integrating diverse EMR systems. It can serve as an electronic medical record storage centre which simplifies the complexities with EMR exchange methods between different systems and saves the equipment setup expenses for smaller healthcare facilities. In addition, cloud computing may improve healthcare services and benefit medical research. Despite the benefits offered by cloud computing, the adoption of cloud computing in the healthcare industry is the slowest compared to other industries. Further, adopting cloud computing involves many factors which require rigorous evaluation prior to introducing the new computing model to an organization. Very few empirical studies have focused on exploring factors influencing the adoption of cloud computing, especially in the public health sector. This study aimed to investigate the viability of an integrated cloud-based EMR system by exploring factors which influence the intent to adopt cloud computing at public healthcare facilities in the Free State province, South Africa. Through a review of literature on existing studies on the adoption of cloud computing and the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, TOE factors were identified and adopted to suit the study’s context. The study carried out a quantitative cross-sectional research by collecting data using a questionnaire which was surveyed to a sample of five principal network controllers from all districts of the Free State and 31 public healthcare facilities in the Free State (FS), South Africa. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 19. The study’s hypotheses were tested by conducting a Spearman’s Coefficient Correlation. Results of the study revealed that most of the public healthcare facilities are using paper-based medical records with some form of IT to record basic patient information. Further, results of the study showed that some of the Health Information Systems (HIS) utilized at these healthcare facilities in the FS include Meditech, PADS, PharmAssist, Tier.net, HPRS, Rx Solutions, RDM, ETR and DHIS. According to this study, investments into IT infrastructure need to be considered by these health facilities as the current internet facilities will not be able to accommodate the use of cloud computing and only some facilities have internet facilities in place. Despite these challenges, these healthcare facilities are willing to adopt a cloud-based EMR system. Lastly, results of the study revealed that the factors associated with the intent to adopt cloud computing included relative advantage, security concern, organization readiness and top management support

E-Healthcare Android Application based On Cloud Computing

The Online Healthcare System can be enhanced significantly by including most recent Information technology. The use of smartphones is increasing every day and is available with the people spread across different demographics. People can access health records online by just one click. This paper proposes a model of designing flexible e-healthcare management system based on Cloud Computing. The elastic nature of cloud permits infinite number of users to access the cloud simultaneously without any limitations. The Healthcare System is implemented in two interfaces: the patient interface and the doctor interface. The patient’s interface allows patients to create, manage, control and share their health information with respective doctors. Finally, the system proposed is efficient as it improves cost management, time, storing patients profile, and provides security to patient’s medical records, book appointments and consult the right doctor online

Cloud Computing with Intelligent Agents to Support Service Oriented System Control and Management

the past few years, Cloud computing has becoming one of the revolutionary technologies in ICT which grows in both popularity and importance, both in industry and in academic domain. More and more private companies, government organizations and institutions are convinced and happy to promote Cloud to improve both connectivity and instant social ability. For IT services and solutions for business, Cloud-based platform promises to offer better business intelligence and productive experience by using unified communications, consistent collaborated data and service management. It is well believed that Cloud Computing will also bring a revolution in the healthcare IT sector along with other ICT business. To exploit Cloud computing productivity potential, this paper focuses on adopting Cloud computing technologies with agent-based solutions to support service oriented system control and management. The on-going research and practice demonstrates an application to the management of community care provision, which shows transforming to Software-as-a-Service (Saas) with the combination of a private healthcare cloud and integrated agents can improve business efficiency by providing flexible services scheduling, smarter health care services control and management