Telematics For Health

Electronic communications are already revolutionizing the delivery of health care in homes and communities. The medium will have increasing impact on the delivery of health care in response to the pressure to use limited resources cost-effectively. To date much of telematics in health care has focused on hospital-based bio-medicine. In this book a case is made for reorientation of telematic activity towards the use of "low tech" (social) technologies supported by "Health for All" philosophies. This book uses several case studies of pilot schemes to illustrate how the models can be applied in a variety of settings. Experience of telematics in America, Canada, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal and Wales is shared for an international readership of innovators in health care management.

This book is the final result of a team effort involving a large number of international experts, coordinated and led by Dr. Marcelo Sosa-Iudicissa, in Brussels, Dr. Nora Oliveri, in Buenos Aires, Dr. Carlos A. Gamboa, in Washington, and Ms. Jean Roberts, in England. They have attracted and assembled together the contributions of 80 specialists from over 20 countries in North America, Europe and Latin America. This makes the present book a unique publication, presenting a true global vision of the opportunities opened up by the advent of the Internet for doctors, health professionals, planners and managers, as well as for patients and the public at large, wanting to know more and better about their own health maintenance and protection. It also presents a range of informatics and telematics applications available nowadays to medicine, examples on how people with a health concern are using the Internet in both industrialised and developing countries. This change, bringing empowerment through knowledge, is showing us the trend towards a New Health Paradigm in the In-formation Society. This book is aimed at medical practitioners, administrators, teachers and students who wish an authoritative state-of-the-art as well as how-to for commencing or enhancing wish done on the Internet. A self-contained CD-Rom is included with the book, providing readers with a flying start in accessing key information sounds.

Ali Sunyaev develops a method for the organizational and technical analysis of security issues in health care. He identifies security problems in the current concept of German health-care telematics and derives recommendations for future developments in the health-care sector.

This report focuses on technical issues associated with informatics--a term covering all aspects of the development and operations of information systems, the supporting computer methodology and technology, and the supporting telecommunications links. The first of six chapters discusses the purpose of the report together with basic assumptions about health care systems as related to informatics and the use of computer-based information processing and transfer in telecommunications; key computer applications in health; and current trends in these rapidly evolving technologies as they apply to health. Subsequent chapters deal with national health informatics policy and strategy; informatics support for health programs and in the provision of health care; informatics for health manpower development; and the choice of informatics technology. It is concluded that informatics will be increasingly used in all organizations and that its use must be managed. Three annexes contain a list of participants in the international consultation on application of informatics; brief descriptions of sample curricula; and an eight-page glossary. (CGD)

The Information Society is bringing about radical changes in the way people work and interact with each other and with information. In contrast to previous information processing paradigms, where the vast majority of computer-mediated tasks were business-oriented and executed by office workers using the personal computer in its various forms (i. e. , initially alphanumeric terminals and later on graphical user interfaces), the Information Society signifies a growth not only in the range and scope of the tasks, but also in the way in which they are carried out and experienced. To address the resulting dimensions of diversity, the notion of universal access is critically important. Universal access implies the accessibility and usability of Information Society technologies by anyone, anywhere, anytime. Universal access aims to enable equitable access and active participation of potentially all citizens in existing and emerging computer-mediated human activities by developing universally accessible and usable products and services, which are capable of accommodating individual user requirements in different contexts of use and independently of location, target machine, or run-time environment. In the context of the emerging Information Society, universal access becomes predominantly an issue of design, pointing to the compelling need for devising systematic and cost-effective approaches to designing systems that accommodate the requirements of the widest possible range of end-users. Recent developments have emphasized the need to consolidate progress by means of establishing a common vocabulary and a code of design practice, which addresses the specific challenges posed by universal access.

This book presents the state of the art and trends in Health Care Telematics, the valuable results of the research and development work carried out by more than 50 projects during the AIM programme 1991-94. Project information regarding the dissemination and validation of the project results is elaborated and in the annex a full list of the participants in each project including contact details can be found. The second part of the book focuses on the shift of paradigm in the Health Care sector within the Information Society. This shift is characterised by a general turn from informatics towards multimedia telematics including the Health Care Telematics. The new Telematics Application Programme under the Fourth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development is user driven and focuses on the need for industry and users to collaborate and develop common solutions to secure validation and exploitation of the research results. The book gives an insight into the state of the art in a world wide context and helps the reader to understand the trends in Health Telematics. The target groups for reading the book are besides experts, researchers and industry in the area as well as decision makers and potential users of Health Telematics. Covered by Current Contents, Life Sciences (ISI), volume 39, no. 9, Februari 1996, p. 15-18 "The book gives insight into the state of the art in a worldwide context and helps the reader to understand current trends in European health telematics" Health Informatics Europe, volume 4, no. 1, March 1996, p. 14

A comprehensive text that guides the reader through all aspects of health.

In this publication, leading experts present all the different aspects to be met for practically enabling advanced health telematics and telemedicine such as architectural issues, electronic health records, communication, security and safety as well as the legal and ethical implications. The international collaboration work's outcome, ongoing efforts and future directions are discussed in deep and broad detail. Represented by health professionals, computer scientists, managers, lawyers and politicians, the book addresses developers, users and decision-makers as well.

This book contains examples of "convincing cases" that were selected from all over Europe and presented by experienced users and healthcare decision-makers. These examples are based on successful cases of implementation of health telematics applications and services such as electronic healthcare records and hospital information systems, specialised departmental systems, emergency telemedicine, and regional healthcare networks. Examples of experiences relating to medical informatics education are also included since the education is a crucial factor in the area of user acceptance. Cases of successful promotion of good quality applications and other issues related to users and technology are included in the last section. The readers will find qualitative and quantitative descriptions of many useful experiences of implementation and use of health telematics systems and services. The text of many of the papers is very rich in quantitative analysis and statistics providing good source of reference.

Recoge: 1.Introduction - 2.The case studies - 3.The policies - 4.Recommendations.