ICT healthcare : overcoming complex barriers for successful deployment

Abstract

eHealth covers the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) related interaction between healthcare professionals and the system clients. It can also include telemedicine services, systems for monitoring and assisting patients and health information networks. Health ICT industry can become the third largest industry in the health sector with a global turnover of €50-60 billion. While the advantages of ICT health related systems are rather noticeable, they have not yet enjoyed prevalent deployments. Many studies have been carried out to identify the reasons for that. Several of these reasons are at least implicitly related to the underlying communication networks and the Internet characteristics. The heterogeneous nature of the Internet, along with its intentional lack of central control and loose hierarchy pose many challenges for its management. In this work, a framework for analysis and management of such complex systems is presented. In particular, the advantages of utilizing these approaches to improve the overall performance of Internet and network-based healthcare systems for a wide range of operating conditions are discussed