eHealth: advantages, disadvantages and guiding principles for the future. (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno José Nievas Soriano ◽  
Sonia García Duarte ◽  
Ana María Fernández Alonso ◽  
Antonio Bonillo Perales ◽  
Tesifón Parrón Carreño
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Ehealth Literacy ◽  
User Empowerment ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information And Communication

BACKGROUND Information and communication technologies have changed the way we access, analyse and use health information. eHealth is a new concept that has been in use for almost two decades. Nevertheless, even today, there is little consensus on eHealth definitions, its main advantages or disadvantages and the future development of eHealth research. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to define the concept of eHealth, recognise its main advantages and potential harms or challenges and acknowledge the aspects of eHealth that need to be explored in future research. METHODS A literature review was conducted by searching all peer-reviewed articles published prior to February 2019 in PubMed. The search was conducted using the following keywords: «eHealth», «eHealth definition», «eHealth advantages», «eHealth problems» and «eHealth future». Of the numerous articles retrieved we analysed the titles, their abstracts, the language and if we could access full-text versions. We were able to select one hundred articles that included contents related to our objectives. RESULTS Of the one hundred articles reviewed, twenty studies contained eHealth definitions. The more mentioned aspects, within the definitions, were the information and communication technologies, health care delivery, the Internet and the importance of being user centred. Twenty nine articles mentioned advantages. The literature showed that the main advantage was that eHealth improved the accessibility to health information, followed by the chance of tailoring the health interventions. Other themes that emerged were user empowerment or the opportunity to reduce costs. Seventy three articles mentioned eHealth disadvantages. The most quoted was the poor quality of the information available, followed by the user’s difficulty to properly evaluate that quality, the existence of technical or not easily understandable information, or the risk of potential harms. Forty articles mentioned recommendations for future eHealth research. The most cited proposals were to improve user’s health and eHealth literacy, and health care providers implication in eHealth development and delivery. CONCLUSIONS Despite not finding consensus around the eHealth definition, we have found some features that can help to define eHealth as the delivery of user centred health care services through information and communication technologies, mainly Internet. The main advantages of using eHealth services are the improvement of accessibility to health, the opportunity to tailor the interventions, user empowerment and cost-effectiveness. Among the literature there are concerns about quality, information being intelligible, the digital divide or the risk of potential harms. Most mentioned guidelines for the future are to improve user’s health and eHealth literacy, health care providers implication in eHealth development and delivery, and the need of more research about the effectiveness of the eHealth interventions.

scholarly journals Information and communication technologies in neonatal health

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Pablo Duran ◽  
Janine A. Sommer ◽  
Paula Otero ◽  
Mariana Daus ◽  
Sonia Benitez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Newborn Care ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Neonatal Health ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Information And Communication

Objectives. To identify scientific evidence on the use and results of information and communication technologies for the improvement of neonatal health in general or specific health problems or interventions, and to describe the type of intervention and its results. Methods. A systematic review of the available evidence was performed. The search was carried out in peerreviewed journals between January 1, 2008 and April 30, 2018, in English and Spanish. The searched key terms were (health informatics OR telemedicine OR mHealth) AND (newborn OR newborn care OR neonatal care). Results. From a total of 305 articles initially identified, 10 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The main domains of eHealth identified as applied to neonatal health were telemedicine (3 studies), eLearning (1 study) and mHealth (7 studies). Target population were health care providers or parents. The studies aimed at diagnosis, provision of health care and training, promoting adherence to interventions in parents or improving quality of care. Conclusions. The use of eHealth in general and specifically focused on neonatal health shows important possibilities for development and expansion, given the advances and present needs, and should be considered a key tool for the reduction of inequalities.

Rural Women's Health Information Needs: Are Technology-Based Services the Answer?

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine C Wathen ◽  
Roma Harris
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Effective Use ◽  
Care Costs ◽  
Use Of Health Care

Various models of community health information delivery exist in Canada. Spiraling health care costs have many governments seeking to promote more judicious (and presumably more cost-effective) use of health care by consumers. One such method is through centralized, government-run health information services that rely heavily on information and communication technologies.

scholarly journals Feasibility of a voice-enabled medical diary app (SpeakHealth) with caregivers of children with special healthcare needs and healthcare providers: A mixed methods study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emre Sezgin ◽  
Garey Noritz ◽  
Simon Lin ◽  
Yungui Huang
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Technology Use ◽  
Care Management ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Interview Session

UNSTRUCTURED Children with special health care needs (CSHCN) require more than the usual care management and coordination efforts from caregivers and health care providers (HCP). Health information and communication technologies can potentially facilitate these efforts in order to increase the quality of care received by CSHCN. In this study, we assessed the feasibility of a voice-enabled medical diary app (SpeakHealth). Following a mixed methods approach, caregivers of CSHCN were interviewed (n=10) and surveyed (n=86) about their care management and communication technology use. Only interviewed participants were introduced to SpeakHealth app prototype, and they tested the app during the interview session. In addition, we interviewed complex care HCPs (n=15) to understand their perception of the value of a home medical diary like SpeakHealth app. Overall, the findings demonstrated the needs and challenges for caregivers of CSHCN and opportunities of voice interactive medical diary apps in care management and coordination. We also reported the themes for enablers and barriers in care communication and communication technologies. We believe the perspectives of caregiver and providers suggested both benefits and challenges in using SpeakHealth app for medical note taking and health events tracking at home. We believe the findings could inform researchers and developers about development and use of a voice-enabled medical diary app.

Patients' Perceptions of Different Information Exchange Mechanisms: An Exploratory Study in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 59 (04/05) ◽  
pp. 162-178
Author(s):  
Pouyan Esmaeilzadeh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
The United States ◽  
Exchange Mechanism ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
Direct Exchange

Abstract Background Patients may seek health care services from various providers during treatment. These providers could serve in a network (affiliated) or practice separately (unaffiliated). Thus, using secure and reliable health information exchange (HIE) mechanisms would be critical to transfer sensitive personal health information (PHI) across distances. Studying patients' perceptions and opinions about exchange mechanisms could help health care providers build more complete HIEs' databases and develop robust privacy policies, consent processes, and patient education programs. Objectives Due to the exploratory nature of this study, we aim to shed more light on public perspectives (benefits, concerns, and risks) associated with the four data exchange practices in the health care sector. Methods In this study, we compared public perceptions and expectations regarding four common types of exchange mechanisms used in the United States (i.e., traditional, direct, query-based, patient-mediated exchange mechanisms). Traditional is an exchange through fax, paper mailing, or phone calls, direct is a provider-to-provider exchange, query-based is sharing patient data with a central repository, and patient-mediated is an exchange mechanism in which patients can access data and monitor sharing. Data were collected from 1,624 subjects using an online survey to examine the benefits, risks, and concerns associated with the four exchange mechanisms from patients' perspectives. Results Findings indicate that several concerns and risks such as privacy concerns, security risks, trust issues, and psychological risks are raised. Besides, multiple benefits such as access to complete information, communication improvement, timely and convenient information sharing, cost-saving, and medical error reduction are highlighted by respondents. Through consideration of all risks and benefits associated with the four exchange mechanisms, the direct HIE mechanism was selected by respondents as the most preferred mechanism of information exchange among providers. More than half of the respondents (56.18%) stated that overall they favored direct exchange over the other mechanisms. 42.70% of respondents expected to be more likely to share their PHI with health care providers who implemented and utilized a direct exchange mechanism. 43.26% of respondents believed that they would support health care providers to leverage a direct HIE mechanism for sharing their PHI with other providers. The results exhibit that individuals expect greater benefits and fewer adverse effects from direct HIE among health care providers. Overall, the general public sentiment is more in favor of direct data transfer. Our results highlight that greater public trust in exchange mechanisms is required, and information privacy and security risks must be addressed before the widespread implementation of such mechanisms. Conclusion This exploratory study's findings could be interesting for health care providers and HIE policymakers to analyze how consumers perceive the current exchange mechanisms, what concerns should be addressed, and how the exchange mechanisms could be modified to meet consumers' needs.

scholarly journals Web 2.0 vs. the Semantic Web: A Philosophical Assessment

Episteme ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Floridi
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Web ◽  
Web 2.0 ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Environment ◽  
The Past ◽  
Clear Explanation ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Future ◽  
Information And Communication

ABSTRACTThe paper develops some of the conclusions, reached in Floridi (2007), concerning the future developments of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their impact on our lives. The two main theses supported in that article were that, as the information society develops, the threshold between online and offline is becoming increasingly blurred, and that once there won't be any significant difference, we shall gradually re-conceptualise ourselves not as cyborgs but rather as inforgs, i.e. socially connected, informational organisms. In this paper, I look at the development of the so-called Semantic Web and Web 2.0 from this perspective and try to forecast their future. Regarding the Semantic Web, I argue that it is a clear and well-defined project, which, despite some authoritative views to the contrary, is not a promising reality and will probably fail in the same way AI has failed in the past. Regarding Web 2.0, I argue that, although it is a rather ill-defined project, which lacks a clear explanation of its nature and scope, it does have the potentiality of becoming a success (and indeed it is already, as part of the new phenomenon of Cloud Computing) because it leverages the only semantic engines available so far in nature, us. I conclude by suggesting what other changes might be expected in the future of our digital environment.

Technologies Solutions Schemes for Patients’ Rehabilitation

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Abdulfattah S. Mashat ◽  
Habib M. Fardoun
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Human Factors ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Rehabilitation Process ◽  
Innovative Solutions ◽  
Information And Communication

SummaryObjective: The present editorial is part of the focus theme of Methods of Information in Medicine entitled “Technologies solutions schemes for Patients’ Rehabilitation: Methodologies, Models and Algorithms”. The focus theme aims to present nowadays most innovative solutions to improve patients’ rehabilitation by applying and using sophisticated and pioneering Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and human factors.Methods: The focus theme explores the different existent research works and tools used, applied and developed for incapable people in terms of rehabilitation and health care, as to look into the extent methodologies, models and algorithms by means of ICT in this process.Results: The focus theme lists a group of research works, which are presenting various solutions using ICT systems to improve the rehabilitation process of people with physical incapacities and to help them in carrying out their daily life.

scholarly journals Introduction: Ethics of Information Technology in Health Care

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2-5
Author(s):  
Georg Marckmann ◽  
Kenneth W Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Information Technology ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Information And Communication Technology ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Computer Based

Computer-based information and communication technologies continue to transform the delivery of health care and the conception and scientific understanding of the human body and the diseases that afflict it. While information technology has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care, it also raises important ethical and social issues. This IRIE theme issue seeks to provide a forum to identify, analyse and discuss the ethical and social issues raised by various applications of information and communication technology in medicine and health care. The contributions give a flavour of the extraordinarily broad landscape shaped by the intersection of medicine, computing and ethics. In fact, their diversity suggests that much more work is needed to clarify issues and approaches, and to provide practical tools for clinicians.

scholarly journals Telehealth and Telemedicine: Clinical and Regulatory Issues

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Somesh Nigam
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Digital Information ◽  
Regulatory Issues ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Society Today

No abstract available. Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles by Dr. Nigam on the use of digital information and communication technologies, commonly referred to as telehealth and telemedicine. In this article the author discusses clinical practice issues and the challenges of regulation and security of digital health information facing society today.

scholarly journals Development and Evaluation of a New Security and Privacy Track in a Health Informatics Graduate Program: Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Education (Preprint)

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leming Zhou ◽  
Bambang Parmanto ◽  
James Joshi
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Information ◽  
Health Care Providers ◽  
Health Informatics ◽  
Graduate Program ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Care Providers ◽  
Widespread Application ◽  
Mobile Health Apps

BACKGROUND The widespread application of technologies such as electronic health record systems, mobile health apps, and telemedicine platforms, has made it easy for health care providers to collect relevant data and deliver health care regimens. While efficacious, these new technologies also pose serious security and privacy challenges. OBJECTIVE The training program described here aims at preparing well-informed health information security and privacy professionals with enhanced course materials and various approaches. METHODS A new educational track has been built within a health informatics graduate program. Several existing graduate courses have been enhanced with new security and privacy modules. New labs and seminars have been created, and students are being encouraged to participate in research projects and obtain real-world experience from industry partners. Students in this track receive both theoretical education and hands-on practice. Evaluations have been performed on this new track by conducting multiple surveys on a sample of students. RESULTS We have succeeded in creating a new security track and developing a pertinent curriculum. The newly created security materials have been implemented in multiple courses. Our evaluation indicated that students (N=72) believed that receiving security and privacy training was important for health professionals, the provided security contents were interesting, and having the enhanced security and privacy training in this program was beneficial for their future career. CONCLUSIONS The security and privacy education for health information professionals in this new security track has been significantly enhanced.

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