Healthcare Infostructures

This second volume to result from the Diebold Institute Infostructure Project focuses on the roles that information-based technology can play in improving our society's overall health and well-being and in solving the major current and anticipated future problems of the cost and quality of and access to health care. The work outlines the general problem of healthcare in the U.S. and then examines the possibilities and problems inherent in developing and implementing healthcare infostructures. Also provided are expert policy analyses comparing medical information systems in the U.S. with those in Japan and Europe. This book will be crucial to an understanding of the future potential of information systems in America's healthcare sector.

This book highlights the core elements of a possible performance measurement framework to assess health systems at the international and national levels. It also addresses further challenges which remain.

Using the tools of competitive strategic analysis, this text identifies and explores the five forces transforming the health care system - horizontal consolidation, vertical integration, industrialization, medical/financial risk assumption, and consumerism. Using these five forces to describe the health care system most likely to emerge in the next decade, it predicts very different fortunes and fates for the medical professions, and hospital, pharmaceutical, medical device, and managed care industries.

Exploring the influence of the Internet on the lives of indigenous and diasporic peoples, Kyra Landzelius leads a team of expert anthropologists and ethnographers who go on-site and on-line to explore how a diverse range of indigenous and transnational diasporic communities actually use the Internet. From the Taino Indians of the Caribbean, the U’wa of the Amazon rainforest, and the Tunomans and Assyrians of Iraq, to the Tingas and Zapatistas, Native on the Net is a lively and intriguing exploration of how new technologies have enabled these previously isolated peoples to reach new levels of communication and community: creating new communities online, confronting global corporations, or even challenging their own native traditions. Featuring case studies ranging from the Artic to the Australian outback, this book addresses important recurrent themes, such as the relationship between identity and place, community, traditional cultures and the nature of the ‘indigenous’. Native on the Net is a unique contribution to our knowledge of the impact of new global communication technologies on those who have traditionally been geographically, politically and economically marginalised.

This book focuses on todays attempts to reshape the federal healthcare system. The major strength of the text lies in its use of examples that show how process redesign and the integration of enabling technologies lead to performance improvement and cost reduction. The contributors draw upon their knowledge and experience of the federal healthcare industry. Rather than intending to provide readers with the correct answers the authors map out the various new approaches.

This book explores the dynamic domain and delves into the promise and potential pitfalls of digital health. The book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the multifaceted landscape of digital health, some global digital health models, and the current progress in Healthcare Leveraging tools and technology. Through expert insights, case studies, and practical examples, we have explored the transformative potential of digital technologies in improving health outcomes, enhancing patient care, and reshaping the healthcare ecosystem. Whether you are a healthcare provider, technologist, policymaker, or simply curious about the future of healthcare, this book is intended to be a valuable resource for understanding the digital health revolution and its implications for society as a whole.

Aim to make the European market for telematic healthcare services more cohesive and less fragmented, by developing a model for the preparation of the regional healthcare providers to implement the next generation of secure, user-friendly healthcare networks. It paves the way towards the development of regional healthcare networks.