eHealth: Using Information and Communication Technology to Improve Health Care

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eHealth Using Information and Communication
Technology to Improve Health Care

• Rex E. Gantenbein
• Center for Rural Health Research and Education
• University of Wyoming

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eHealth

• What is it? Why is it important?
• What are the major issues and concerns?
• What are the emerging technologies that will
  shape its future?

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eHealth what is it?

• eHealth is the use of emerging information and
  communication technology, especially the
  Internet, to improve or enable health and health
  care.
• -- Robert Wood Johnson Foundation report

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eHealth what is it?
Clinical services
Telehealth
Clinical/Medical Informatics
C
Primary focus
A
Consumer Health Informatics
Public Health Informatics
B
Population health
Interactive health communication includes areas
of all the above disciplines.
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eHealth what is it?

• eHealth includes many applications
• Individualized or generic health information
  services
• Distance education for practitioners
• Clinical or public health information systems
• Administrative tools (admission systems, cost
  management)
• Electronic medical records
• Teleradiology, telesurgery, etc.

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eHealth why is it important?

• Health care in the US is BIG business
• 1.1 trillion spent currently (13.5 of GDP)
• Projected to double by 2008
• Estimated that 25 is due to waste and
  administrative inefficiency

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eHealth why is it important?

• US health care system needs serious attention
• Average doctors office visit is 15 minutes
• 44 million Americans do not have health insurance
  (including 11 million children)
• Medical errors kill between 44,000 and 98,000
  every year
• Many people believe that their health care
  providers place financial priorities above
  individuals health needs

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eHealth why is it important?

• Problems exist regarding quality, access, and
  cost
• Both consumers and practitioners are overwhelmed
  by the tremendous volumes of new research and
  development
• Many areas are underserved by both practitioners
  and services
• Practitioners are asked to do more with less to
  improve cost/care ratios

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eHealth why is it important?

• eHealth provides promising solutions to some of
  these problems
• Better access to information has fueled a shift
  to more patient-centered care
• New information can be located more quickly and
  easily, saving time and cost and improving
  quality
• Communication technology can bring services to
  remote or underserved populations

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eHealth who is using it?

• Both consumers and practitioners are increasingly
  using the Internet as a resource
• Consumer-oriented health portals
• Health-oriented resources in generic portals
• Tools for clinical care or services

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eHealth who is using it?

• 400 million people worldwide have Internet access
  as of January 2001
• 169 million Americans have access at home and/or
  at work
• Surveys report that between 55 and 98 million
  American adults have looked for health
  information on the Internet
• It is estimated that there are at least 19,000 to
  20,000 Web sites dedicated to health or health
  care

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eHealth what are the issues?

• Consumers want more and better information
• Advice about disease or treatments
• Follow-up on diagnosis
• Alternative medicine
• Convenience and anonymity are very important

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eHealth what are the issues?

• Practitioners want faster and more up-to-date
  information
• New research or technologies
• Consultation with specialists
• Improved delivery of service to underserved or
  remote areas
• Convenience and efficiency are very important

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eHealth what are the issues?

• Consumers have many concerns
• Privacy and security
• Reliability and credibility
• Access and infrastructure
• Practitioners also have concerns
• No proven benefit to eHealth
• Reliability and credibility
• Medical and legal issues

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eHealth what are the trends?

• Internet trends
• Commercialization
• Globalization
• The d Generation
• Peer-to-peer networks

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eHealth what are the trends?

• Communications infrastructure trends
• Broadband communication
• Wireless technologies
• Internet-enabled devices

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eHealth what are the trends?

• Application development trends
• Personalization and tailoring
• Improved Web authoring
• Application service providers

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eHealth what are the trends?

• Biomedical technology
• Telehealth
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Genomics
• Nanotechnology
• Informatics programs in universities

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eHealth where is it going?

• Convergence of these trends could cause major
  changes in health care
• Ultimate impact is still unclear, but we need to
  be ready to assess new technology for safe and
  appropriate uses
• We also need to address many societal and ethical
  issues

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Questions?http//www.health.uwyo.edu/
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References

• Eng, T.R., The eHealth Landscape A Terrain Map
  of Emerging Information and Communication
  Technologies in Health and Health Care. The
  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2001.
• Neuberger, N.I., Payne, M.E., and Wakefield, M.,
  Rural Health Care and the Internet Issues and
  Opportunities of Using Interactive Communications
  to Improve Rural Health Care Services. Health
  Tech Strategies, LLC, 2001.
• Fox, S. et al., The Online Health Care
  Revolution How the Web Helps Americans Take
  Better Care of Themselves. The Pew Internet and
  American Life Project, 2000.