Saturday, 19 March 2011: 09:40
Based on field experience from different projects implementing and evaluating
assistive technologies the authors analyzes the following questions: (1)
which impacts are to be expected from a wide range use of this technology on
the health care job market and health professionalism? (2) which requirements
can be derived regarding interfacing assistive systems with impatient-,
outpatient-, and public health systems, and (3) can one generate rough
guesses about the necessary rise of infrastructure cost for IT-systems in
national systems to achieve the expected impacts and the wide distribution of
such systems.
The paper is based on experience from a theoretical study about dementia
patients funded by Robert Bosch Foundation and several field installations
with industry and social care institutions. In addition experience from other
infrastructural developments in health care are used for comparisons, namely
national communication infrastructures, EPR-systems, and hospital systems.
The results of the analyses point out, that a major positive outcome can be
expected, if overall investment and maintenance of information bases and
information technology can be raised from the current low level to a much
higher level. In case this will not be possible. It is theoretically derived,
that a much different management of information processes in health than
today will be needed.
assistive technologies the authors analyzes the following questions: (1)
which impacts are to be expected from a wide range use of this technology on
the health care job market and health professionalism? (2) which requirements
can be derived regarding interfacing assistive systems with impatient-,
outpatient-, and public health systems, and (3) can one generate rough
guesses about the necessary rise of infrastructure cost for IT-systems in
national systems to achieve the expected impacts and the wide distribution of
such systems.
The paper is based on experience from a theoretical study about dementia
patients funded by Robert Bosch Foundation and several field installations
with industry and social care institutions. In addition experience from other
infrastructural developments in health care are used for comparisons, namely
national communication infrastructures, EPR-systems, and hospital systems.
The results of the analyses point out, that a major positive outcome can be
expected, if overall investment and maintenance of information bases and
information technology can be raised from the current low level to a much
higher level. In case this will not be possible. It is theoretically derived,
that a much different management of information processes in health than
today will be needed.