OP06 Past Speculations Of Future Health Technologies: What Did They Predict?

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. 4-4
Author(s):  
Lucy Doos ◽  
Claire Packer ◽  
Derek Ward ◽  
Sue Simpson ◽  
Andrew Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Strategic Decision ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Technology Type

INTRODUCTION:Rapid technological innovation is leading to new health technologies and interventions becoming available to healthcare markets at increasing speed; these often cost more than current alternatives and significantly affect the cost of healthcare services and delivery (1). Identifying future technologies supports service preparedness, long-term planning, and strategic decision making. The aim of this study was to describe and classify health technologies predicted in fifteen forecasting studies according to their type, purpose and clinical use, and relate these to the original purpose and timing of the forecasting studies.METHODS:This was a descriptive study of predicted healthcare technologies identified in fifteen forecasting studies included in a previously published systematic review (2). Outcomes related to (i) each forecast study including country, year, intent and forecasting methods used, and (ii) the predicted technology type, purpose, targeted clinical area and forecast timeframe.RESULTS:We identified 896 predicted health-related topics, of which 685 were health technologies. Of these, 19.1 percent were diagnostic or imaging tests and 14.3 percent devices or biomaterials; 38.1 percent were intended to treat or manage disease and 21.6 percent to diagnose or monitor disease. The most frequent targeted clinical areas were infectious diseases followed by cancer, circulatory and nervous system disorders. The mean timeframe for technology forecast was 11.6 years (Standard Deviation, SD = 6.6). The forecasting timeframe significantly differed by technology type (p = .002), the intent of the forecasting group (p < .0001), and the methods used (p < .0001).CONCLUSIONS:Our description and classification of predicted health-related technologies from prior forecasting studies provides an overview of the technological and clinical frontiers of innovation in health and healthcare provision.

Closing the Gap

2010 ◽  
pp. 38-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malina Jordanova
Keyword(s):  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
World Health ◽  
World Health Assembly Resolution ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Cost

Brought to life by contemporary changes of our world, e-health offers enormous possibilities. In the World Health Organization’s World Health Assembly resolution on e-health, WHO has defined e-health as the cost-effective and secure use of information and communication technologies in support of health and health-related fields, including healthcare services, health surveillance, health literature, and health education (WHO, 2005). It is impossible to have a detailed view of its potential as e-health affects the entire health sector and is a viable tool to provide routine, as well as specialized, health services. It is able to improve both the access to, and the standard of, health care. The aim of the chapter is to focus on how e-health can help in closing one gap - optimizing patient care. The examples included and references provided are ready to be introduced in practice immediately. Special attention is dedicated to cost effectiveness of e-health applications.

Evaluation of smart health technologies with hesitant fuzzy linguistic MCDM methods

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 6363-6375
Author(s):  
Gülçin Büyüközkan ◽  
Esin Mukul
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Smart Health ◽  
Smart Technologies ◽  
Intelligence Support ◽  
Fuzzy Linguistic

Smart health applications are raising a growing interest around the world thanks to its potential to act proactively and solve health related problems with smart technologies. Smart health technologies can provide effective healthcare services such as personalization of treatments through big data, robotics in cure and care, artificial intelligence support to doctors, etc. The mixed structure of the evaluation of smart health technologies involves various contradictory criteria. However, when information is of uncertain nature, it is difficult to decide on how to treat. A hesitant fuzzy linguistic term set (HFLTS) approach is applied to overcome such uncertainties related to this multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. This approach can be used to facilitate experts’ decision-making processes in complex and uncertain situations. In this study, an integrated hesitant fuzzy linguistic (HFL) MCDM approach is proposed to evaluate smart health technologies. The criteria are weighted with HFL Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), and then, smart health technologies are evaluated with the HFL Combinative Distance-based Assessment (CODAS) method. A comparative analysis with HFL COPRAS and HFL TOPSIS is applied. Lastly, the potential of this approach is presented through a case study.

scholarly journals Exploratory attitude survey of homeless persons regarding telecare services in shelters providing mid- and long-term accommodation: The importance of trust

PLoS ONE ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. e0261145
Author(s):  
Zsuzsa Győrffy ◽  
Sándor Békási ◽  
Bence Döbrössy ◽  
Virág Katalin Bognár ◽  
Nóra Radó ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Underserved Populations ◽  
Reference Group ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Homeless Persons ◽  
Homeless Shelters ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Vulnerable Patient

Background With the expansion of digital health, it is imperative to consider intervention techniques in order not to be the cause of even more social health inequalities in underserved populations struggling with chronic diseases. Telemedicine solutions for homeless persons might compensate for shortcomings in access to valuable health services in different settings. The main aim of our research was to examine the attitudes and openness of homeless persons regarding telecare on a Hungarian sample. Methods Quantitative survey among homeless people (n = 98) was completed in 4 shelters providing mid- and long-term accommodation in Budapest, Hungary. Attitudes regarding healthcare service accessibility and telecare were measured by a self-developed questionnaire of the research team. Telecare attitude comparison was made with data of a Hungarian weighted reference group of non-homeless persons recruited from 2 primary care units (n = 110). Results A significant fraction of homeless people with mid- or long-term residency in homeless shelters did not oppose the use of telecare via live online video consultation and there was no difference compared to the national reference group (averages of 3.09 vs. 3.15, respectively). Results of the homeless group indicate that those more satisfied with healthcare services, in general, manifest more openness to telecare. It is clearly demonstrated by the multivariate analysis that those participants in the homeless group who had problems getting health care in the last year definitely preferred in-person doctor-patient consultations. Conclusion Digital health technologies offer a potentially important new pathway for the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions among homeless persons. Based on the attitudes towards telecare, initiating an on-site telecare program for mid- and long-term residents of homeless shelters might enable better care continuity. Our results draw attention to the key factors including building trust in the implementation of such programs among underserved and other vulnerable patient groups.

scholarly journals GARY BECKER’S CONTRIBUTIONS IN HEALTH ECONOMICS

2015 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo R. Soares
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Health Economics ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Individual Productivity

Gary Becker's contributions to health economics started somewhat indirectly. The early development in human capital theory, to which Becker was one of the main contributors, had obvious implications to the analysis of expenditures on health, but were almost exclusively focused on schooling and training (Schultz 1960; Becker 1962, 1964). Human capital theory advanced the idea that actions that imply present costs but enhanced individual productivity in the future could be seen as investments in a form of capital. Expenditures in health had many dimensions where such trade-offs were present. A good diet or exercising might not be very much fun, but potentially delivered long-term benefits in the form of a longer and healthier life. Preventive medical care demanded time and money, but might also improve future health prospects. This was recognized early on (Mushkin, 1962), but the first explorations of health as human capital were conceptually timid and did not give the field a push that remotely resembled that received by the economic research on education. For the years that followed, health economics persisted mostly as a field dealing with the analysis of health systems and delivery of health technologies.

scholarly journals Critique of the new NBN policy

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Graham Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
End Users ◽  
Cost Reductions ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
Competitive Model ◽  
Future Technologies ◽  
The Cost ◽  
National Infrastructure ◽  
Fixed Wireless ◽  
Roll Out

In December 2014 the Australian Minister for Communications released a policy destined to transform the NBN as conceived by the previous government. Its primary stated aims are to lower costs and introduce competition. The cost reductions are driven by significantly compromising the access speed and substantially but not entirely eliminating the lead-in cost. The policy also anticipates a competitive model, which risks creating islands of monopoly based upon the footprints of the proposed FTTN and HFC networks – although the fixed wireless and satellite technologies should be able to operate competitively, if not profitably. This paper addresses the limitations of the policy as currently stated and proposes some changes in approach which share the objectives of the policy but without compromising access speed. The changes will eliminate the lead-in cost entirely and will introduce infrastructure competition in the long-term interests of end-users. They will accelerate the NBN roll-out and ensure that the national infrastructure is responsive to future technologies, market demands and business opportunities.

scholarly journals Is the Vaccination program the only factor that should determine how fast the COVID-19 restrictions in England should be eased in 2021?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Miles ◽  
Adrian Heald ◽  
Mike Stedman
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Vaccination Program ◽  
Healthcare Provision ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Standards Of Living ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

Vaccination against the COVID-19 virus began in December 2020 in the UK and is now running at 5% population/week. High Levels of social restrictions were implemented for the third time in January 2021 to control the second wave and resulting increases in hospitalisations and deaths. Easing those restrictions must balance multiple challenging priorities, weighing the risk of more deaths and hospitalisations against damage done to mental health, incomes and standards of living, education outcomes and provision of non-Covid-19 healthcare. Weekly and monthly officially published values in 2020/21 were used to estimate the impact of seasonality and social restrictions on the spread of COVID-19 by age group, on the economy and healthcare services. These plus vaccination program assembled into a model that retrospectively reflected the actual numbers of reported deaths closely both in 2020 and early 2021. It was applied prospectively to the next 6 months to evaluate impact of different speeds of easing social restrictions. The results show vaccinations are significantly reducing the number of hospitalisation and deaths. The central estimate is that relative to a rapid easing the avoided loss of 57,000 life years from a strategy of relatively slow easing over the next 4 months come at a cost in terms of GDP reduction of around £0.4 million/life-year loss avoided. This is over 10 times higher than the usual limit the NHS uses for spending against Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) saved. Alternative assumptions for key factors affecting give significantly different trade-offs between costs and benefits of different speeds of easing. Disruption of non-Covid-19 Healthcare provision also increases in times of higher levels of social restrictions. In most cases, the results favour a somewhat faster easing of restrictions in England than current policy implies. Return of non-Covid-19 healthcare activity to ‘normal’ levels might also improve future health outcomes/mortality.

scholarly journals What are the social, psychological and physical health challenges facing adolescents in the UK?

The Physician ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Triya Chakravorty
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Physical Inactivity ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Global Epidemic ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Uk

The ages of ten to nineteen are monopolised by biological, psychological and sociocultural changes, all of which impact health in the present and future. Behaviours and habits acquired during adolescence can have long-term impacts. Smoking, alcohol use, obesity and physical inactivity are all examples of health-related behaviours that usually start in adolescence and contribute to the global epidemic of non-communicable diseases in adults. These behaviours are influenced by socioeconomic and cultural factors and are major determinants of future health inequalities.

Primary varicose veins

Phlebologie ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (03) ◽  
pp. 133-137
Author(s):  
H. Partsch
Keyword(s):  
Varicose Veins ◽  
Compression Therapy ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Clinical Severity ◽  
Compression Stockings ◽  
Primary Varicose Veins ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Convincing Data ◽  
Long Term Studies

SummaryBackground: Compression stockings are widely used in patients with varicose veins. Methods: Based on published literature three main points are discussed: 1. the rationale of compression therapy in primary varicose veins, 2. the prescription of compression stockings in daily practice, 3. studies required in the future. Results: The main objective of prescribing compression stockings for patients with varicose veins is to improve subjective leg complaints and to prevent swelling after sitting and standing. No convincing data are available concerning prevention of progression or of complications. In daily practice varicose veins are the most common indication to prescribe compression stockings. The compliance depends on the severity of the disorder and is rather poor in less severe stages. Long-term studies are needed to proof the cost-effectiveness of compression stockings concerning subjective symptoms and objective signs of varicose veins adjusted to their clinical severity. Conclusion: Compression stockings in primary varicose veins are able to improve leg complaints and to prevent swelling.

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