Towards Sustainable Health Care Organizations

Health care organizations have to develop a sustainable path for creating public value by seeking legitimacy for building and maintaining public trust with patients as social and economic institutions creating value and sustaining both health and wealth for people and communities within society. Health care organizations having at disposal decreasing resources and meeting increasing demands of citizens are following an unsustainable path. Designing sustainable health care systems and organizations is emerging as a strategic goal for developing the wealth of people and communities over time. Building sustainable organizations relies on valuing human resources, designing efficient and effective processes, using technology for better managing the relationships within and outside organizations. Sustainable health care organizations tend to rediscover the importance of human resource management and policies for effectively improving communication with patients and building trust-based relationships. While processes of accreditation contribute to legitimizing effectiveness and quality of health care services and efficient processes, introducing and using new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and informatics helps communication leading to restore trust-based relationships between health care institutions and patients for value creation within society

Scientific and Technological Researches: An Elixir for Sustainable Development of a Nation

Scientific/technological research outputs (in the form of new technologies) have become the principal tools for meeting the world ever-expanding needs for food, shelter, housing and equitable access to health-care services. This paper posits that scientific or technological research is an activity that will allow a sovereign nation to move from her present undesirable process of growth and development onto sustainable economic growth and development paths that backup sustainable financial investments.

A New Paradigm of Primary Health Care in Kazakhstan: Personalized, Community-based, Standardized, and Technology-driven

This paper discusses the need for change from Kazakhstan’s current disease-centric healthcare paradigm to a new primary health and wellness-centric health care paradigm, technology-driven and based on personal relationships within a social context. While many different papers have been published about the importance of prevention and primary health care, few have focused on healthcare transition in Kazakhstan or other countries in Central Asia. The WHO’s historic 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration signed in Kazakhstan promoted the centrality of primary care to the provision of effective, efficient, and equitable health services. Modern technologies such as the Internet, social media, and portable medical devices democratize medicine, providing great opportunities to rethink the Alma-Ata Declaration and reinvent primary health care on an entirely new platform that is knowledge-based and technology-assisted. The new paradigm suggested for the future development of health in Central Asian region emphasizes personal relationships and encourages sustainable solutions created by communities. This paper also introduces HealthCity, a new project in Kazakhstan aiming at introducing private, community-based and standardized primary healthcare that is driven by SmartHealth innovative technology

Rural Health Systems Change

Much effort has been expended in recent years attempting to reform the Australian health system in order to deliver more efficient and effective systems of care for an ageing and increasingly chronically ill population. Rural health care systems in particular have been a focus of reform programs, and new initiatives such as University Departments of Rural Health, Regional Health Service structures and Commonwealth primary care initiatives have been designed to improve service provision and health status for rural people. However, with these attempts to reform the way rural communities understand and manage their health care, surprisingly little has changed in the day-to-day business of health care in rural and regional areas. Paradoxically, while rural communities have moved to embrace new farming technologies and environmental perspectives along with modern land management practices, revegetation and sustainable production systems, the same enthusiasm for change does not appear to have been kindled in relation to health system reforms. Rural communities, in terms of health care, are still using the equivalent of outmoded farming practices and other environmentally and economically unsustainable approaches to managing their affairs. Why might this be and what can be done to improve the current state of health reform in our rural and regional areas? The paper explores systems change in relation to health reform in rural communities and highlights several strategies for bringing about a functional synthesis of research and health service practice to create a more effective health care system in rural South Australia

Welfare Technologies in Care Work

Welfare technologies have within the last few years become a new mantra for reforming the Nordic public health and social care, and are increasingly making their impact on working life of care professionals. Welfare technologies – a term exclusively used in a Nordic context – is a broad and loosely defined concept that covers a wide array of technologies such as tele-care solutions, automatic toilets, eating robots, GPS-trackers, and many others. They are envisioned as leading to a new and smarter form of retrenchment, promising better quality, empowerment of clients, and work that is smarter and more qualified (e.g., Danish government et al. 2013). Together with other reform initiatives like coproduction, rehabili- tation, and user-involvement, welfare technologies aim at enabling a change in the role of the clients/patients, stressing their resourcefulness and potentials and encouraging to self-responsibilization and self-care (Rose 1998; Triantafillou 2017). This implies a fundamental reorganization of care work, a transformation of what care and care work is about, and consequently of meaning and identity in work (see, e.g., Barnes & Cotterell 2012; Järvinen 2012; Kirkegaard & Andersen 2018; Meldgaard Hansen & Kamp 2018). More concretely, we may expect changes in work tasks, social relations and forms of cooperation between occupational groups, and new relations to clients/patients and their relatives. This may not only imply new challenges and strains in work but may also present new possibilities for employees to engage creatively in shaping work in ways that makes care work more meaningful and sustainable. (...

Findings from a Survey of Health Care Delivery Innovation Centers

Health care innovation centers around the country are working to discover, develop, test, and spread new models of care delivery--in hospitals, clinics, and patients' homes. Between November 2014 and January 2015, The Commonwealth Fund conducted an online survey of innovation centers affiliated with health care organizations to learn about their potential role in promoting health system transformation.Survey findings presented in this chartpack reveal how innovation centers define innovation, what factors into investment decisions, which technologies are most commonly used, and much more. While innovation centers have the potential to contribute to health system transformation, it appears that to succeed they will need sustainable funding and greater integration with clinical enterprises. The survey also reveals that innovation centers may benefit from collaboration to identify solutions to common problems and develop a mechanism for spreading their work

Wearable Technology Supported Home Rehabilitation Services in Rural Areas:– Emphasis on Monitoring Structures and Activities of Functional Capacity Handbook

The sustainability of modern healthcare systems is under threat. – the ageing of the population, the prevalence of chronic disease and a need to focus on wellness and preventative health management, in parallel with the treatment of disease, pose significant social and economic challenges. The current economic situation has made these issues more acute. Across Europe, healthcare expenditure is expected to rice to almost 16% of GDP by 2020. (OECD Health Statistics 2018). Coupled with a shortage of qualified personnel, European nations are facing increasing challenges in their ability to provide better-integrated and sustainable health and social services. The focus is currently shifting from treatment in a care center to prevention and health promotion outside the care institute. Improvements in technology offers one solution to innovate health care and meet demand at a low cost. New technology has the potential to decrease the need for hospitals and health stations (Lankila et al., 2016. In the future the use of new technologies – including health technologies, sensor technologies, digital media, mobile technology etc. - and digital services will dramatically increase interaction between healthcare personnel and customers (Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, 2015a; Deloitte Center for Health Solutions 2015b). Introduction of technology is expected to drive a change in healthcare delivery models and the relationship between patients and healthcare providers. Applications of wearable sensors are the most promising technology to aid health and social care providers deliver safe, more efficient and cost-effective care as well as improving people’s ability to self-manage their health and wellbeing, alert healthcare professionals to changes in their condition and support adherence to prescribed interventions. (Tedesco et al., 2017; Majumder et al., 2017). While it is true that wearable technology can change how healthcare is monitored and delivered, it is necessary to consider a few things when working towards the successful implementation of this new shift in health care. It raises challenges for the healthcare systems in how to implement these new technologies, and how the growing amount of information in clinical practice, integrates into the clinical workflows of healthcare providers. Future challenges for healthcare include how to use the developing technology in a way that will bring added value to healthcare professionals, healthcare organizations and patients without increasing the workload and cost of the healthcare services. For wearable technology developers, the challenge will be to develop solutions that can be easily integrated and used by healthcare professionals considering the existing constraints. This handbook summarizes key findings from clinical and laboratory-controlled demonstrator trials regarding wearables to assist rehabilitation professionals, who are planning the use of wearable sensors in rehabilitation processes. The handbook can also be used by those developing wearable sensor systems for clinical work and especially for use in hometype environments with specific emphasis on elderly patients, who are our major health care consumers

Healthcare system priorities for successful integration of genomics: An Australian focus

This paper examines key considerations for the successful integration of genomic technologies into healthcare systems. All healthcare systems strive to introduce new technologies that are effective and affordable, but genomics offers particular challenges, given the rapid evolution of the technology. In this context we frame internationally relevant discussion points relating to effective and sustainable implementation of genomic testing within the strategic priority areas of the recently endorsed Australian National Health Genomics Policy Framework. The priority areas are services, data, workforce, finances, and person-centred care. In addition, we outline recommendations from a government perspective through the lens of the Australian health system, and argue that resources should be allocated not to just genomic testing alone, but across the five strategic priority areas for full effectiveness

An investigation into store and forward telehealth adoption in Australia

Purpose The challenge for health care payers is to stem expenditure growth and gain proportionate value where the costs escalate. A visionary approach which transcends political agenda is required to ensure worthwhile, strategic objectives for cost, quality and access are pursued. Health care is poised for a change in course, with e-health and telehealth driving the next breakthroughs in health care systems across the world.   Methods Qualitative research was utilised as an appropriate approach as this fulfils the needs of exploration where little knowledge is available and an understanding of economic, political and social factors is needed. A carefully selected group of subjects who could provide the insights needed to make recommendations to enable store and forward (SAF) telehealth in Australia were chosen. Semi-structured interviews were conducted using scheduled, recorded teleconferences initiated from a standard landline service.   Results Discussions took place relating to any barriers holding SAF telehealth as a health service delivery model back and ultimately what can be done to promote a sustainable and productive service emerging as part of a new health care service. The summary of these findings is broken into individual sections and they are presented in the paper.   Conclusions SAF telehealth consultations could occur in a number of ways and its continued expansion is governed by reimbursement policy and ongoing technology innovation. With the use of smart technologies and governance, costs can be reduced while improving quality of care and access to services for many patients

Blockchain in the social sphere of Smart Cities

The development of smart cities is based on the use of new technologies. One of these promising technologies is Blockchain. The use of Blockchain gives great opportunities for solving a complex of problems related to: ensuring energy efficiency in buildings, the introduction of sustainable energy technologies for megacities, the formation of eco-friendly settlements, etc. The article analyzes the possibilities of using Blockchain technology in the social sphere of the city. The analysis is carried out on the example of health and pharmaceuticals. The study was carried out in the framework of the institutional approach and the concept of economic opportunities. The objectives of the study were: to identify specific areas of use of Blockchain technology in the pharmaceutical and health care industries; to evaluate the role of this technology in ensuring compliance with medical standards, transparency and safety of drugs at all stages of their development, promotion and use; to determine the possibilities of technology in identifying more effective and high-quality treatment methods, their implementation in practical health care. The article presents the structure of the areas of pharmaceuticals and health care, where the Blockchain is used. The strategies are offered to reduce labour and energy costs for processing medical information, accelerating the creation of new treatment technologies and the creation of medicines, their implementation in practical health care.