scholarly journals Smart Healthcare Devices for Smart Cities: A Review

Smart City has become increasingly important worldwide since the last decade. It is the advanced system for communication among people with smart infrastructure ingrained in the smart city. In the smart city, the infrastructure will track and manage all basic facilities, health care, law implementation, water supply, traffic, and transport. Improvement in smart sensor networks, ubiquitous computing, mobile cloud computing, and intellectual services for the communication of information among the sensors, all these facilities built the base for the smart city. The smart health care system will perform an important part in transforming old cities into smart cities. Telecommunication engineering scientists have prepared smarter health services which are improving the standards of living of the society. These health care services significantly develop the quality of health care services in hospitals and also decrease the burden of health care professionals and paramedical staff. This research article presents the applications of a smart health care system which will benefit everyone in the society by providing easy telecommunication access to health care professionals and patients. This system will also track the patient's health online using wearable and implantable devices.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272110535
Author(s):  
Nathan Wright ◽  
Marylee Scherdt ◽  
Michelle L. Aebersold ◽  
Marjorie C. McCullagh ◽  
Barbara R. Medvec ◽  
...  

Objectives: Rural residents comprise approximately 15% of the United States population. They face challenges in accessing and using a health care system that is not structured to meet their unique needs. It is important to understand rural residents’ perceptions of health and experiences interacting with the health care system to identify gaps in care. Methods: Our team conducted focus groups with members of the Michigan Farm Bureau during their 2019 Annual Meeting. Topics explored included resources to manage health, barriers to virtual health care services, and desired changes to localized healthcare delivery. Surveys were used to capture demographic and internet access information. Conclusion: Analysis included data from 2 focus groups (n = 14). Participants represented a wide age range and a variety of Michigan counties. The majority were full-time farm owners with most—93% (n = 13)—reporting they had access to the internet in their homes and 86% (n = 12) reporting that their cellphones had internet capabilities. Participants identified challenges and opportunities in 4 categories: formal health care; health and well-being supports; health insurance experiences; and virtual health care. Conclusion: The findings from this study provide a useful framework for developing interventions to address the specific needs of rural farming residents. Despite the expressed challenges in access and use of health care services and resources, participants remained hopeful that innovative approaches, such as virtual health platforms, can address existing gaps in care. The study findings should inform the design and evaluation of interventions to address rural health disparities.


2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANI FILC

The transition from the Fordist hegemonic model to post-Fordism is a complex process. It is not the unavoidable result of technological changes, but the contingent consequence of a hegemonic, political, struggle taking place at the different spheres of the social. This article studies the transformations that took place in the Israeli health care system during the last two decades in order to exemplify the political and contradictory character of the transition to post-Fordism. The article emphasises the contradiction between the partial commodification of financing and the privatisation of certain health care facilities, and the legislation of the National Health Insurance Law, which guaranteed the right to access to public health care services.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dani Filc ◽  
Nissim Cohen

AbstractBlack medicine represents the most problematic configuration of informal payments for health care. According to the accepted economic explanations, we would not expect to find black medicine in a system with a developed private service. Using Israel as a case study, we suggest an alternative yet a complimentary explanation for the emergence of black medicine in public health care systems – even though citizens do have the formal option to use private channels. We claim that when regulation is weak and political culture is based on ‘do it yourself’ strategies, which meant to solve immediate problems, blurring the boundaries between public and private health care services may only reduce public trust and in turn, contribute to the emergence of black medicine. We used a combined quantitative and qualitative methodology to support our claim. Statistical analysis of the results suggested that the only variable significantly associated with the use of black medicine was trust in the health care system. The higher the respondents’ level of trust in the health care system, the lower the rate of the use of black medicine. Qualitatively, interviewee emphasized the relation between the blurred boundaries between public and private health care and the use of black medicine.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 523-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan P. MaCkenbach

The aim of this article is to analyze the role of the health care system in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in health in countries with good access to health services, using the Dutch example. In the past, health care has contributed substantially to reducing a number of health problems in the population, particularly health problems leading to mortality. Data on trends in mortality from selected conditions by socioeconomic group show that both higher and lower socioeconomic groups have profited from these mortality reductions, probably because of largely equal access to essential health care services, and that absolute inequalities in mortality from these conditions have declined notably. The current situation is still one of largely equal financial access to health care services, with relatively small differences between socioeconomic groups in health care utilization, after adjustment for differences in prevalence of health problems. There is no evidence that inequalities in health care utilization contribute to a widening of socioeconomic inequalities in health. Financing of the health care system, however, is slightly regressive, and out-of-pocket payments contribute to the poor financial situation of the chronically ill. For the future, three possible contributions of the health care system to reducing socioeconomic inequalities in health are described: preservation of equal access to high-quality health care; development of specific care packages for lower socioeconomic groups; promotion and support of intersectoral activities.


Author(s):  
A.I. Vlasova

On the basis of different sources, mainly annual regional statistical surveys, the stages of the formation of the health care system of the Semipalatinsk region of the Steppe Governor General are revealed. At the first stage, the end of the 60s — 80s of the 19th century, the accession of the Steppe Territory to the Russian Empire was completed. The integrating policy of this ethnoregion into the political-legal and socio-economic space of the empire was initiated. In the social sphere, it led to the creation of a health system. The procesas had a number of specific features due to the absence of zemstvos and zemstvo medicine and the predominance of Kazakh nomads in the ethnosocial structure of the region. Therefore, in contrast to the central regions of Russia, the development of the health care system in the Steppe Territory was dealt with by the provincial and regional administrations. The second stage (the end of the 80s 19th century — 1917) is associated with the beginning of the mass migration of peasant migrants from the European part of Russia to the Steppe Territory. This stage is characterized by the expansion of the network of regional and county medical institutions, the improvement of their material and technical base, the expansion of the specialization of practicing doctors, and the solution of the personnel problem. Also, at that stage, the system of management of medical institutions was improved and government organizations, for example, the Resettlement Department, were involved in solving problems related to health care services for the p opulation. In general, statistics show that by 1917 the quality of health care services and the percentage of population involvement remained at a low level.


Equilibrium ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Barbel Held

The healthcare industry is a growth driver. However, the health system is facing a crisis, affected by the financial development in Europe. An almost completely regulated market is just as little use, as a largely deregulated market such as in the U.S.A. Both lead to gaps in the sustainable and comprehensive patient care. Based on the German Healthcare System, an analysis is performed. Currently, the German health care system is in a transformation process. Traditional forms of health care services provision and the existing governance system are coming to their limits. The current health care system no longer meets the requirements for ensuring accessible and affordable health care services. As new players on the German hospital market, commercial hospital groups have emerged. To get more informed on the effects at the regional level, a scenario analysis was performed. A trend scenario which shows a clear trend toward a substantial increase of regional imbalances was developed. On one hand, there are highly profitable regions with excellent medical service provision by commercial hospital groups, and on the other hand, there are peripheral regions with a second-rate medicine, which are left to the public sector. The paper derives first ideas about a new structure of the healthcare system for ensuring accessible and affordable health care services for the citizens. The paper shows first ideas about the transformation of healthcare as an opportunity for growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lloy Wylie ◽  
Stephanie McConkey ◽  
Ann Marie Corrado

Indigenous people experience significant health disparities compared to non-Indigenous people, which are exacerbated by less accessible and poorer quality health care services. This research aimed to understand the specific barriers to health care that Indigenous patients and their families face, as well as to explore promising practices and strategies for improving the responsiveness of health services to the needs of Indigenous people. Through qualitative interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous health care and social services providers, we identified a range of challenges and successful approaches, and developed recommendations for improving policy and practice to address the gaps in culturally safe health care services. Our study shows that many of the barriers Indigenous people face when accessing health care are rooted in the broader social determinants of health, such as poverty, racism, housing, and education. These are complex problems that are outside of the traditional scope of health care practice. However, this study has also demonstrated that many barriers to equitable care actually stem from within the health care system itself. We found that health care gaps were often attributable to poorly funded on-reserve health care services and culturally unsafe off-reserve services.  Attitudes and practices among those working in health care and gaps in coordination between mainstream and Indigenous services are challenges related to the way the health care system operates. Solutions are needed that address these issues. Given the multifaceted nature of access barriers, strategies to improve health services for Indigenous people and communities require a comprehensive and systemic approach.  


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjana Ule ◽  
Slavko Kurdija

Abstract Background: This article researches gender inequality in health based on subjective assessments of health, the accessibility of health care services and trust in the health care system between different social categories of women in Slovenia. Methods: The study is based on the Slovenian Public Opinion survey (ISSP Health Module) carried out in 2011 on representative samples of the adult Slovenian population. In the data, we investigated the gender differences and difference between different socio-economic categories within the female sub-sample in self-assessed health, and some other related topics such as: trust in doctors, trust in health care system, access to health care services and attitude to the health care policy in Slovenia. Results: The data shows significant inequalities in self-assessed health between different social strata. Self-assessed health is significantly lower among women at the bottom of the educational and income scale. The data also reveals strong support for the preservation of the available public health. Conclusion: Neoliberal economic reforms (of health care) affect vulnerable social categories the most, and women are particularly exposed. The use of women’s unpaid work in the family belongs among the basic (neo)liberal saving strategies. These want to take more care and health work within families from the shoulders of the state and place it onto the shoulders of family members, which mainly means women. In these circumstances, it is understandable that women subjectively assess their health as being worse than men’s. Moreover, conditions are being established that de facto could lead to worse health in the female population in Slovenia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 219-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Owen Landeg ◽  
Geoff Whitman ◽  
Kate Walker-Springett ◽  
Catherine Butler ◽  
Angie Bone ◽  
...  

Objectives Our objective was to assess the health care system impacts associated with the December 2013 east coast flooding in Boston, Lincolnshire, in order to gain an insight into the capacity of the health care sector to respond to high-impact weather. Methods Semistructured interviews were held with regional strategic decision makers and local service managers within 1 km of the recorded flood outline to ascertain their experiences, views and reflections concerning the event and its associated health impacts and disruption to health care services. A snowballing sampling technique was used to ensure the study had participants across a broad range of expertise. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and data analysis was preformed using NVivo (v10) to apply a thematic coding and develop a framework of ideas. Results The results of this case study provide a vital insight into the health care disruption caused by flooding. All sectors of the health care system suffered disruption, which placed a strain on the whole system and reduced the capacity of the sector to respond to the health consequences of flooding and delivering routine health care. The formal recovery phase in Lincolnshire was stood-down on 4th February 2014. The results of this work indicate limitations in preparedness of the health care system for the reasonable worse-case scenario for an east coast surge event. Conclusions The health care sector appears to have limited capacity to respond to weather-related impacts and is therefore unprepared for the risks associated with a future changing climate. Further work is required to ensure that the health care system continues to review and learn from such events to increase climate resilience.


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