The Digitization Of Healthcare

Combining conceptual, pragmatic and operational approaches, this edited collection addresses the demand for knowledge and understanding of IT in the healthcare sector. With new technology outbreaks, our vision of healthcare has been drastically changed, switching from a ‘traditional’ path to a digitalized one. Providing an overview of the role of IT in the healthcare sector, The Digitization of Healthcare illustrates the potential benefits and challenges for all those involved in delivering care to the patient. The incursion of IT has disrupted the value chain and changed business models for companies working in the health sector, and also raised ethical issues and new paradigms about delivering care. This book illustrates the rise of patient empowerment through the development of patient communities such as PatientLikeMe, and medical collaborate platforms such as DockCheck, thus providing a necessary tool to patients, caregivers and academics alike.

Digital technologies are currently dramatically changing healthcare. This book introduces the reader to the latest digital innovations in healthcare in fields such as artificial intelligence, points out new ways in patient care and describes the limits of its application. It also offers essential guidance in the form of structured and authoritative contributions by domain experts spanning from artificial intelligence to hospital management to radiology to dentistry to preventive medicine. Furthermore, it shares ideas and experiences of industry veterans, in particular on how IT-driven solutions could solve long-standing issues in the fields of healthcare and hospitalization. It also gives advice on what new digital technologies to consider for becoming a healthcare market leader in the future. Taken together, these contributions provide a “road map” to guide decision makers, physicians, academics, industry representatives and other interested readers to understand the large impact of digital technology on healthcare today and its enormous potential for future development.

Electronic health records are widely regarded as the 'connective tissue' of any modern healthcare system. For some they represent a 'dangerous enthusiasm' and for others a key enabler of 'disruptive innovation'. Many governments have made major policy and financial investments in digitalizing health records but their implementation has frequently run into opposition from doctors, had lukewarm responses from patients, and raised considerable concerns for privacy advocates and others worried by the security of sensitive health data and the risks of national data-bases. This book draws upon the concept of 'orders of worth' to reveal the moral dimensions of the medical division of labour and to delve deeper into understanding why electronic records have been so difficult to implement and the sources of opposition to them. The authors argue that digitalization disrupts the moral orders which define rights and responsibilities for the sharing and exchanging of patient medical data. This is illustrated through longitudinal studies of two of the most controversial attempts to introduce national systems - a patient controlled electronic record in Australia and a national summary care record that was part of the ill-fated NHS national program for IT in England. The authors conclude by using the lessons from these national experiences and insights from two regional projects in each country to suggest how the idea of electronic records might be re-thought. It is a must read for anyone concerned about health information and the implications of how it is shared and exchanged in a digital world.

The healthcare system is experiencing unprecedented challenges and opportunities that will revolutionize the sector. The rising demand for health services and the resources restrictions have put increased pressure on healthcare organizations to improve cost-efficiency and service offerings. The pandemic has further exacerbated the main pressure points of the healthcare sector. Currently, the shift towards patient centricity is gaining momentum, therefore there is a need to rethink how health systems can embrace this concept, in particular with digitization, service innovation and value co-creation. Focusing on digital healthcare, this book proposes a theoretical framework, along with managerial implications, on moving towards a patient-centric model. It explores the role of digitization and innovation in solving existing challenges in the sector, and includes the concept of 'One Digital Health', which refers to global health and transformation and recognizes the importance of the connection between humans, animals, nature and the interrelation of different health systems. With clear implications to Sustainable Development Goal 3: ‘Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages,’ the authors argue that innovative transformation in the sector can support the Agenda 2030.

This book focuses on the applications of different digital platforms in the field of healthcare. It describes different devices used in digital healthcare, their benefits, diagnosis, use in treatment, and use cases related to mobile healthcare. Further, it covers machine and deep learning, blockchain technology, big data analytics as relevant to digital healthcare, telehealth technology, and digital applications in the field of push-and-pull pharma marketing. Overall, it enables readers to understand the basics of decision-making processes using digital techniques for the healthcare field. Features: Discusses various aspects of digitization of healthcare systems Examines deployment of machine learning including IoT and medical analytics Provides studies on the design, implementation, development, and management of intelligent healthcare systems Includes sensor-based digitization of healthcare data Reviews real-time advancement and challenges of digital communication in the field of healthcare This book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in healthcare, internet of things, machine learning, computer science, robotics, wearables, electrical engineering, and biomedical engineering.

The digitization of healthcare has become almost ubiquitous in recent years, spreading from healthcare organizations into the homes and personal appliances of practically every citizen. Thanks to the collective efforts of health professionals, patients and care providers as well as systems developers and researchers, the entire population of Europe is able to participate in and enjoy the benefits of digitized health information. This book presents the proceedings of the 26th Medical Informatics in Europe Conference (MIE2015), held in Madrid, Spain, in May 2015. The conference brings together participants who share their latest achievements in biomedical and health Informatics, including the role of the user in digital healthcare, and provides a forum for discussion of the inherent challenges to design and adequately deploy ICT tools, the assessment of health IT interventions, the training of users and the exploitation of available information and knowledge to further the continuous and ubiquitous availability and interoperability of medical information systems. Contributions address methodologies and applications, success stories and lessons learned as well as an overview of on-going projects and directions for the future. The book will be of interest to all those involved in the development, delivery and consumption of health and care information.

"The secure storage of medical records is vital to any healthcare system. Relying solely on centralized servers increases the likelihood of sensitive information going public. Transparency and increased security of Blockchain technology make it an ideal platform for storing medical records. Patients can safely store their privacy-sensitive information by securing their data on a Blockchain using cryptography. This enables them to share their medical information with any healthcare institution with their approval. The healthcare system is currently very fragmented, but if all users were to use a secure global database, the flow of information between them would be much faster. A great advantage of a global database is that clients do not have to tell their story every time. A medical specialist, for example, can see exactly what a patient has been through and what treatments and examinations have taken place. The information is also available in real time to the healthcare professional the client has indicated to have access to his file. A new revolution is taking place that is clearly different from the third industrial revolution (Internet, communication and globalization). This fourth industrial revolution involves a fusion of technologies such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and Blockchain. Our healthcare society is also changing fundamentally, also under the influence of COVID-19. With this book in three chapters, we present the impact of Blockchain and digitization in healthcare with (1) a systematic literature review om implementing blockchain solutions in health care and organizational consequences, (2) Blockchain in health care and (3) transformation of elderly care and impact of digitalization"--

This book is a reference guide for healthcare executives and technology providers involved in the ongoing digital transformation of the healthcare sector. The book focuses specifically on the challenges and opportunities for health systems in their journey toward a digital future. It draws from proprietary research and public information, along with interviews with over one hundred and fifty executives in leading health systems such as Cleveland Clinic, Partners, Mayo, Kaiser, and Intermountain as well as numerous technology and retail providers. The authors explore the important role of technology and that of EHR systems, digital health innovators, and big tech firms in the ongoing digital transformation of healthcare. Importantly, the book draws on the accelerated learnings of the healthcare sector during the COVID-19 pandemic in their digital transformation efforts to adopt telehealth and virtual care models. Features of this book: Provides an understanding of the current state of digital transformation and the factors influencing the ongoing transformation of the healthcare sector. Includes interviews with executives from leading health systems. Describes the important role of emerging technologies; EHR systems, digital health innovators, and more. Includes case studies from innovative health organizations. Provides a set of templates and frameworks for developing and implementing a digital roadmap. Based on best practices from real-life examples, the book is a guidebook that provides a set of templates and frameworks for digital transformation practitioners in healthcare.