scholarly journals Health-BlockEdge: Blockchain-Edge Framework for Reliable Low-Latency Digital Healthcare Applications

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 2502
Author(s):  
Muneeb Ejaz ◽  
Tanesh Kumar ◽  
Ivana Kovacevic ◽  
Mika Ylianttila ◽  
Erkki Harjula
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Dynamic Network ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Blockchain Technology

The rapid evolution of technology allows the healthcare sector to adopt intelligent, context-aware, secure, and ubiquitous healthcare services. Together with the global trend of an aging population, it has become highly important to propose value-creating, yet cost-efficient digital solutions for healthcare systems. These solutions should provide effective means of healthcare services in both the hospital and home care scenarios. In this paper, we focused on the latter case, where the goal was to provide easy-to-use, reliable, and secure remote monitoring and aid for elderly persons at their home. We proposed a framework to integrate the capabilities of edge computing and blockchain technology to address some of the key requirements of smart remote healthcare systems, such as long operating times, low cost, resilience to network problems, security, and trust in highly dynamic network conditions. In order to assess the feasibility of our approach, we evaluated the performance of our framework in terms of latency, power consumption, network utilization, and computational load, compared to a scenario where no blockchain was used.

scholarly journals Implementation of Fog computing in IoT-based healthcare system

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjana Maksimović
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare System ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Fog Computing ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Smart Devices ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Main Challenge

Nowhere do the technology advancements bring improvements than in the healthcare sector, constantly creating new healthcare applications and systems which completely revolutionize the healthcare domain. The appearance of Internet of Things (IoT) based healthcare systems has immensely improved quality and delivery of care, and significantly reduced the costs. At the same time, these systems generate the enormous amount of health-associated data which has to be properly gathered, analyzed and shared. The smart devices, as the components of IoT-driven healthcare systems, are not able to deal with IoT-produced data, neither data posting to the Cloud is the appropriate solution. To overcome smart devices’ and Cloud’s limitations the new paradigm, known as Fog computing, has appeared, where an additional layer processes the data and sends the results to the Cloud. Despite numerous benefits Fog computing brings into IoT-based environments, the privacy and security issues remain the main challenge for its implementation. The reasons for integrating the IoT-based healthcare system and Fog computing, benefits and challenges, as well as the proposition of simple low-cost system are presented in this paper.

scholarly journals Advanced Cryptography & Block Chain Based Cloud Environment for Secured E-Health Record

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya A ◽  
Kavitha G
Keyword(s):  
Patient Information ◽  
Data Communication ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Medical Histories ◽  
Time Accuracy

Abstract There has been noteworthy issues that must be tackled by the healthcare sector along with handling the security concerns that are intensely linked with offering of healthcare services, inculcating novel electronic healthcare systems, and secure data communication with different healthcare and government institutions. These security related concerns project several privacy preserving methodologies pertaining to the privacy and security of EHRs (electronic health records) in the cloud. The EHRs comprises of information related to demographics, medical histories, digital images, medications, lab reports, billing details and other sensitive patient information. All this sensitive patient information is kept highly secured and resides in third party servers with definite access controlling mechanism. The conventional system employs various cryptography algorithm for authorization, encryption, decryption, key generation and validation algorithms. There is proposal of a new cryptography algorithm for combating the limitations of AES, RSA and ABS. For securing the healthcare data residing in the cloud, the research presents effective utilization of new hybrid cryptography algorithm and Blockchain technology with smart contract. Unlike the prevailing three cryptographic algorithms, the proposed algorithm offers enhanced time, accuracy, efficiency and key generation and performance. Overall, there is a drastic transformation in securing the healthcare records using the proposed approach.

scholarly journals Cyber-physical Threat Detection Platform Designed for Healthcare Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
George Suciu ◽  
Mari-Anais Sachian ◽  
Ioana Petre ◽  
Daniel Petrache ◽  
Gabriel Petrescu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Healthcare Facilities ◽  
Physical Threat ◽  
Fast Pace ◽  
Day To Day Operations ◽  
Health Insurance Providers

Hospitals are responsible for delivering healthcare services to patients in need. These services are large and complex and get affected by multiple interacting actors, such as doctors, nurses, patients, citizens, medical suppliers, health insurance providers. Lately, hospitals around the world are one of the main targets when it comes to terrorist attacks, the cyber realm being the principal source. The healthcare sector is particularly vulnerable due to heavy involvement in patient personal and health information, time constraints, and complex day-to-day operations. In addition to cyber-threats, physical threats are increasingly growing and even healthcare facilities are not immune to them. Malicious intended people created cyber threatening attacks with the purpose to systematically collect evidence against the healthcare system, to advocate for the end of such attacks, and to endanger people's lives or to use the stolen personal data for bad intended actions. Henceforth it is necessary to build a platform that will get alerts and incidents at a fast pace in real-time to prevent any casualties at low cost. SAFECARE project aims to offer protection to hospitals and increase the compliance for the European regulations and security regarding ethics and privacy for health services. This paper presents a solution that will enhance security in hospitals. The primary platform will be built based on a BTMS (Building Threat Monitoring System) where events, incidents, and alerts will be transmitted by sensors from hospital rooms in real-time. Several scenarios were thought to simulate different types of attacks against hospitals and according to the scenarios, various prototypes will be built for assuring the security of the personal and patients from various hospitals.

scholarly journals Ontology-based IoT healthcare systems (IHS) for Senior Citizens

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 0-0
Keyword(s):  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Smooth Flow ◽  
Incremental Growth ◽  
Current Scenario ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Internet Of Things

Rapid incremental growth in population causes the virulence of infectious diseases worldwide. Due to this, health hazards with population growth raise pollution in the air, water, and soil and affect the immunity of individuals. To handle the situation, reliable and easy to reach healthcare services are required. The proliferation of connected technologies along with the Internet of Things (IoT) is providing modern healthcare with extensive care. All-pervading IoT technology gaining a very much attraction nowadays. This paper presents a brief about the E-Health Care System along with its framework. This attempt also presents the ontology approach as data produced by healthcare applications is vast and unstructured which needs to be organized in proper format with a smooth flow of data and also results in less request-response time. Further, this paper discusses the impact of the disease on senior citizens in the current scenario.

Equipment Maintenance in Primary and Secondary Healthcare, Punjab

2020 ◽  
pp. 097282011988639
Author(s):  
Muhammad Naiman Jalil ◽  
Rania Sohail ◽  
Areeb Javaid ◽  
Ali Jan Khan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Medical Equipment ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Equipment Maintenance ◽  
Biomedical Equipment ◽  
The Impact

Healthcare systems and, more specifically, public sector healthcare systems are complex hierarchical entities. Delivering quality healthcare services is a challenging task facing several key hurdles. Equipment maintenance and availability is one of the key issues since the non-functionality of medical equipment degrades service provision in public sector hospitals. In this case, we discuss the situation of primary and secondary healthcare services in Punjab, Pakistan, focusing on the current condition of equipment functionality and maintenance across thirty-six districts of Punjab. The healthcare sector in Punjab is organized in a tiered manner, with primary health care facilities providing basic medical services to the masses and secondary healthcare facilities providing referral and specialized services to the patients. Providing medical services requires an efficient network of medical professionals, adequate medical equipment, physical infrastructure and sufficient supply of medicines at all levels of the healthcare system. This case identifies and discusses the issue of non-functionality and maintenance of medical equipment in Punjab. Demand for medical equipment is generated on a central and district level, followed by a combination of central- and facility-level procurement. Maintenance of equipment is done by the facility without any standard operating procedures. The purpose of this case is to observe the current maintenance options in practice and to assess the impact of a decentralized maintenance system on the functionality status of biomedical equipment across districts. The objective is also to highlight the need for an efficient maintenance regime in accordance with the nature of the equipment to ensure cost and downtime minimization.

scholarly journals Making Healthcare Systems More Efficient and Sustainable in Emerging and Developing Economies Through Disruptive Innovation: The Case of Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ivo Pezzuto
Keyword(s):  
Developing Economies ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Shared Value ◽  
Healthcare Industry ◽  
Creating Shared Value ◽  
The World ◽  
Disruptive Innovations

This paper focuses on the potential opportunities that disruptive innovation may bring to the healthcare sector of emerging and developing economies, and in particular to the one of the leading Sub-Saharan Africa’s country, Nigeria. The author examines the possibility of using advancements in the innovation of Technology 4.0 to bridge the gap in access to what could be defined as “good enough” healthcare services for poorer regions of the world while also aiming to potentially reduce healthcare costs and making the local healthcare systems more sustainable, productive, and accessible. Nigerian health industry is used as an exploratory case study to examine the feasibility of implementing Mobile Health and Telehealth Systems, and more in general, to assess the potential benefits of disruptive innovations in the healthcare industry for the lower income patients of emerging and developing economies. This analysis on disruptive innovation, industry competitiveness, and sustainability of the healthcare models is inspired by Michael Porter’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) strategic framework (Porter et al., 2011; 2018) and by Clayton Christensen’s Disruptive Innovation Theory (Christensen et al., 1997; 2000; 2004; 2006; 2013; 2015, 2017). This study also aims to provide a compelling argument supporting the thesis that disruptive innovations in the healthcare system can help grant access to critical basic healthcare services in poor regions of the world while also achieving multiple goals such as, sustainability, efficiency, shared-value creation, and corporate profitability for forward-looking firms with scalable and disruptive business models. Ultimately, the paper aims to contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of disruptive innovation, sustainability, and creating shared-value strategies, assessing the feasibility of solutions that may drive to improved competitiveness, social progress, social inclusion, and sustainability of the healthcare industry in one of the developing economies. The results of this study aim to prove that, in the coming years, disruptive innovations are likely to redefine the competitive environment of the healthcare industry and improve the healthcare conditions of the poorer, underserved, and underreached population of developing and emerging economies like Nigeria, thus increasing their life expectancy rates.

Implementation Considerations for Blockchain in Healthcare Institutions (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketan Paranjape ◽  
Josip Car ◽  
Mitchell Parker ◽  
David Houlding
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Quality ◽  
Financial Burden ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Care Quality ◽  
Security And Privacy ◽  
Blockchain Technology

BACKGROUND Healthcare is undergoing a transformation worldwide1. In many developed countries, mature but antiqued national healthcare services are being burdened with a growing aging population, changes in payment reforms, worker shortage and rising costs2. Combined with a surge in innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI)3 and blockchain4 which can help with automating medical record mining to provide a more accurate diagnosis5 or reduce errors in medical practice6 by providing accurate and tailored treatment while reducing the financial burden, today’s healthcare systems are ready for change. After success in industries like financial services7 and retail8, if blockchain can be scaled and moved into the mainstream in healthcare, it can help alleviate the many concerns with security and privacy of health data and help stitch together a longitudinal history of health data that is fragmented and locked away in multiple silos today. Sophisticated use of blockchain technology will contribute to improving health outcomes, improved health care quality, and lower health care costs – the three overarching aims that the U.S. is striving to achieve (also known as the “Triple aim”)9. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to provide a primer on blockchain technology, and implementation considerations for blockchain at healthcare institutions. METHODS Systematic literature survey, conversation with experts. RESULTS After extensive research and interviews, we developed a primer and high level implementation guide for healthcare systems exploring the use of blockchain technology. CONCLUSIONS The use of blockchain technology in healthcare is at a promising stage in development but Blockchain-based applications are yet to be demonstrated as a viable platform for exchanging and reviewing information. Healthcare systems should be cautiously optimistic regarding the potential of blockchain and do a thorough business and technical diligence that is driven by targeted use cases (s) to be successful.

scholarly journals Blockchain Technology - Current Status and Future Research Opportunities in Various Areas of Healthcare Industry

2021 ◽  
pp. 130-150
Author(s):  
P. S. Aithal ◽  
Architha Aithal ◽  
Edwin Dias
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Healthcare Industry ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Blockchain Technology ◽  
Smart Healthcare ◽  
Research Agendas

Purpose: Blockchain technology is one of the emerging Information Communication and Computation (ICCT) underlying technologies of the 21st century with potential applications in primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary industry sectors. In this paper, we have identified and analyzed some of the potential fields of the healthcare industry that can get benefit by means of using blockchain technology principles. Based on a systematic review on the development of blockchain technology and its application in healthcare sector to improve the quality of healthcare services, this paper identifies some of the application areas in the healthcare industry including Healthcare Security & Authentication aspects, Clinical Trials & Precision Medicine, Personalizing the Healthcare Services, Healthcare Data Management, Strengthening Public Health Surveillance, e-Healthcare to Customers, Healthcare Administration & Medicine Management, Telehealth & Telemedicine, Managing Medical Imaging, Developing Smart Healthcare System, and Healthcare Information System. The purpose also includes the analysis of the current implementation challenges of blockchain technology in healthcare industry services. Methodology: The study is descriptive and exploratory in nature. The related information is collected from various secondary sources for review. The secondary sources include published literature from various scholarly journals searched through Google scholar by means of identified keywords. Results/Findings: Based on a systematic review, we have identified the current status of the use of blockchain in several areas of healthcare sector, desired status called ideal status, and the research gap of use of blockchain technology in various application areas of the healthcare industry along with identification of various possible research agendas for future research. Originality/Value: It is found that blockchain technology facilitates for the improvement of quality services in the healthcare sector and various research agendas are proposed to carry out further research for patient satisfaction and comfortability. Type of the Paper: Review based research analysis.

scholarly journals Intelligent Healthcare Systems Assisted by Data Analytics and Mobile Computing

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Ma ◽  
Zie Wang ◽  
Sheng Zhou ◽  
Haoyu Wen ◽  
Yin Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Computing ◽  
Data Analytics ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Healthcare Systems ◽  
Healthcare Applications ◽  
Novel Technologies ◽  
Cognitive Power ◽  
Intelligent Healthcare ◽  
Learning Data

It is entering an era of big data, which facilitated great improvement in various sectors. Particularly, assisted by wireless communications and mobile computing, mobile devices have emerged with a great potential to renovate the healthcare industry. Although the advanced techniques will make it possible to understand what is happening in our body more deeply, it is extremely difficult to handle and process the big health data anytime and anywhere. Therefore, data analytics and mobile computing are significant for the healthcare systems to meet many technical challenges and problems that need to be addressed to realize this potential. Furthermore, the advanced healthcare systems have to be upgraded with new capabilities such as machine learning, data analytics, and cognitive power for providing human with more intelligent and professional healthcare services. To explore recent advances and disseminate state-of-the-art techniques related to data analytics and mobile computing on designing, building, and deploying novel technologies, to enable intelligent healthcare services and applications, this paper presents the detailed design for developing intelligent healthcare systems assisted by data analytics and mobile computing. Moreover, some representative intelligent healthcare applications are discussed to show that data analytics and mobile computing are available to enhance the performance of the healthcare services.

Policy Review: Dubai Health Authority’s COVID-19 Rapid Response

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (Special) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Rapid Response ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
World Health ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Services Delivery ◽  
First Case ◽  
The World

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) is the entity regulating the healthcare sector in the Emirate of Dubai, ensuring high quality and safe healthcare services delivery to the population. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on the 11th of March 2020, indicating to the world that further infection spread is very likely, and alerting countries that they should be ready for possible widespread community transmission. The first case of COVID-19 in the United Arab Emirates was confirmed on 29th of January 2020; since then, the number of cases has continued to grow exponentially. As of 8th of July 2020 (end of the day), 53,045 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed with a death toll of 327 cases. The UAE has conducted over 3,720,000 COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents over the past four months, in line with the government’s plans to strengthen virus screening to contain the spread of COVID-19. There were vital UAE policies, laws, regulations, and decrees that have been announced for immediate implementation to limit the spread of COVID- 19, to prevent panic and to ensure the overall food, nutrition, and well-being are provided. The UAE is amongst the World’s Top 10 for COVID-19 Treatment Efficiency and in the World’s Top 20 for the implementation of COVID-19 Safety measures. The UAE’s mission is to work towards resuming life after COVID-19 and enter into the recovery phases. This policy research paper will discuss the Dubai Health Authority’s rapid response initiatives towards combating the control and spread of COVID-19 and future policy implications and recommendations. The underlying factors and policy options will be discussed in terms of governance, finance, and delivery.

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