Ebook: Pervasive Health Knowledge Management

Pervasive healthcare is an emerging research discipline, focusing on the development and application of pervasive and ubiquitous computing technology for healthcare and wellness. Pervasive healthcare seeks to respond to a variety of pressures on healthcare systems, including the increased incidence of life-style related and chronic diseases, emerging consumerism in healthcare, need for empowering patients and relatives for self-care and management of their health, and need to provide seamless access for healthcare services, independent of time and place. Pervasive healthcare may be defined from two perspectives. First, it is the development and application of pervasive computing (or ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence) technologies for healthcare, health and wellness management. Second, it seeks to make healthcare available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both the coverage and quality of healthcare. This book proposes to define the emerging area of pervasive health and introduce key management principles, most especially knowledge management, its tools, techniques and technologies. In addition, the book takes a socio-technical, patient-centric approach which serves to emphasize the importance of a key triumvirate in healthcare management namely, the focus on people, process and technology. Last but not least the book discusses in detail a specific example of pervasive health, namely the potential use of a wireless technology solution in the monitoring of diabetic patients.

Between rising costs and decreasing accessibility, the present health care picture is fraught with shortcomings—a discouraging scenario for the millions of patients struggling with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. In response, computer technology is emerging as a key factor in the transition from inefficient centralized health systems toward patient-centered, patient-involved care: pervasive healthcare.

In straightforward fashion, Pervasive Health Knowledge Management systematically explains how mobile technologies and knowledge management (KM) can streamline health systems by removing time and place limitations, reducing costs, and giving patients a more proactive part in managing their conditions. The book defines the role of KM in pervasive healthcare and analyzes its component processes and technologies. Chapters examine how and why KM works, review KM initiatives within and outside the U.S., and offer extended coverage of possibilities for ubiquitous computing in managing diabetes. Together, they outline a future that meets mounting chronic health concerns with efficient, cost-effective, patient-empowering strategies. Highlights of the coverage:

• Implicit and explicit knowledge assets in healthcare.
• Using pervasive technologies to manage knowledge in crisis situations.
• Smart phone application design and knowledge management for people with dementia.
• A pervasive technology solution for supporting diabetes self-care.
• Examining the business and IT aspects of wireless enabled healthcare solutions.
• Developing an internet-based chronic disease self-management system.

Healthcare administrators and researchers in healthcare management, health policy, and health services research will find detailed in Pervasive Health Knowledge Management a visionary approach to many of the most pressing problems in their fields.