Doctor visits and hospital stays are often characterized by inefficient processes, for patients and doctors as well as for hospitals and insurance companies. Enabled by new technologies, many of these processes can be digitized and thus made more efficient, accurate, and sustainable. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of how e-health services can contribute to greater sustainability through information and communications technology, both for the environment and for society, as well as to identify areas where e-health applications can still be optimized or where new problems arise.
Digitization in healthcare continues to permeate all areas. For a long time now, it has not just been about pure telemetry, i.e. electronic communication between the involved parties, but also innovative systems such as the use of machine learning to detect irregularities in X-ray images (Kassania et al., 2021). This is also reflected in the increasing interest of companies and investors in the field of e-health. The amount of annual global investment in the digital health industry has increased from one billion US dollars in 2010 to 21.6 billion in 2020 (StartUp Health, 2021). This was also driven by the huge increase of 55% from 2019 to 2020, due to a very strong interest in e-health solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic (StartUp Health, 2021).
E-health solutions offer many advantages for patients, doctors, health insurers, and hospitals. Processes become more efficient through digital communication, patients can receive remote diagnoses via video chat and have digital patient records, and doctors are supported in diagnoses and freed from bureaucratic tasks and can devote more time to their patients. However, due to the continued importance of the healthcare system to society and its long-term planning, consideration must also be given to how e-health can be made as sustainable as possible.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 E-Health
2.1 Opportunities and Challenges
2.2 Required ICT Components
3 Sustainable E-Health
3.1 How E-Health contributes to Sustainability
3.2 How to make E-Health more sustainable
4 Conclusion
References
Objectives and Topics
The primary goal of this paper is to examine the role of e-health services in fostering sustainability within the healthcare sector through information and communication technologies, while identifying areas for technical optimization and addressing emerging challenges.
- The intersection of digitalization and medical services
- Benefits of e-health for patients and healthcare providers
- Technical prerequisites and ICT infrastructure requirements
- Environmental and social dimensions of sustainable healthcare
- Challenges related to regulation, costs, and data security
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Opportunities and Challenges
Because e-health is such a broad term, the benefits also extend to many areas and actors in the healthcare system. Enabled by ICT, patients can be monitored from home. Pare et al. (2007) state that reliable data is collected for more patients and more patients seek medical help when they can stay at home. This and video telephony with medical staff not only saves patients time but also reduces the number of hospital or doctor visits, which in turn can save costs (Schweizer & Synowiec, 2012; Stroetmann, 2017). Catewell and Sheikh (2009) concluded in their study that providing health portals where patients can view their own health data and have easy access to reliable medical information will increase their health awareness and give them and their physicians faster access to their data. Another advantage of mobile e-health devices is that information can be personalized and given on demand. For example, while a doctor can recommend what to do in the event of a high pulse, a smartwatch with a heart rate monitor can give the appropriate information when the case arises (Van Gemert-Pijnen et al., 2018). In addition, technology is easy to scale compared to medical personnel, which would be especially beneficial for large or unpredictable campaigns (Van Gemert-Pijnen et al., 2018).
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces the rapid digitization of the healthcare industry and highlights the increasing global investment in e-health, emphasizing the need for long-term sustainability planning.
2 E-Health: This chapter defines the scope of e-health technologies, categorizing them into domains such as mobile health, interactive communication, and data management while outlining general system benefits and risks.
2.1 Opportunities and Challenges: This section details the practical advantages of home monitoring and digital portals, while also addressing concerns regarding usability, IT security, and data privacy.
2.2 Required ICT Components: This section explores the technical foundations of e-health, including the necessity of robust databases, machine learning, blockchain for data integrity, and cloud-based infrastructure.
3 Sustainable E-Health: This chapter integrates the concept of sustainability with healthcare and ICT, discussing the carbon footprint of digital technologies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
3.1 How E-Health contributes to Sustainability: This section explains how digital transformation reduces travel and paper waste, improves patient outcomes, and enhances accessibility in underserved or rural regions.
3.2 How to make E-Health more sustainable: This section proposes strategies to enhance sustainability through Green IT principles, virtualization, and better social inclusion, while addressing barriers such as strict regulations and financial support for startups.
4 Conclusion: The final chapter summarizes the dual role of e-health as a promoter of medical quality and sustainability, while calling for future research into AI bias and economic optimization.
Keywords
E-health, sustainability, ICT, digital health, Green IT, healthcare digitization, tele-medicine, data security, healthcare innovation, environmental impact, social equity, m-health, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, healthcare startups
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper explores the synergy between e-health technologies and sustainability, investigating how digital solutions can improve medical care while being mindful of environmental and social impacts.
Which specific areas of healthcare are highlighted in the text?
The work covers a range of areas including patient remote monitoring, digital records, diagnostic support, and the administrative digitalization of hospitals and insurance processes.
What is the primary research question?
The paper seeks to identify how e-health services can contribute to greater sustainability and where potential optimizations or emerging problems lie in the implementation of these technologies.
What research methodology is applied?
The author performs an analytical overview of existing literature, synthesizing findings from various studies on e-health definitions, sustainability dimensions, and ICT infrastructure.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body examines the definition of e-health, its opportunities and technical requirements, the relationship between ICT and environmental sustainability, and strategies for making digital health more sustainable.
Which keywords best describe this study?
Key terms include e-health, sustainability, ICT, digital health, Green IT, data security, and digital transformation.
How do e-health applications impact CO2 emissions?
The study notes that e-health reduces the need for travel (e.g., via video consultations) and minimizes paper consumption, although the energy consumption of data storage and processing must be managed through Green IT.
What role does Artificial Intelligence play in the context of e-health sustainability?
AI helps in diagnostic tasks and improving process efficiency, but the author points out that biased training data in AI models poses social challenges that need to be addressed by ethics committees.
What are the primary obstacles for e-health startups?
Startups face significant challenges due to strict healthcare regulations, complex cost coverage structures by insurers, and the need for seamless integration with established systems.
- Quote paper
- Jan Harder (Author), 2021, Sustainability in e-Health. Overview and emerging challenges, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1160779
