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Methods Inf Med 2005; 44(03): 473-479
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1633996
Original Article
Schattauer GmbH

The Challenge of Ubiquitous Computing in Health Care: Technology, Concepts and Solutions

Findings from the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2005
O. J. Bott
1   Technical University of Braunschweig, Institute for Medical Informatics, Braunschweig, Germany
,
E. Ammenwerth
2   UMIT – University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Innsbruck, Austria
,
B. Brigl
3   University of Leipzig, Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, Leipzig, Germany
,
P. Knaup
4   University of Heidelberg, Department of Medical Informatics, Heidelberg, Germany
,
E. Lang
5   University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Information and Knowledge Management, Darmstadt, Germany
,
R. Pilgram
2   UMIT – University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Innsbruck, Austria
,
B. Pfeifer
2   UMIT – University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Innsbruck, Austria
,
F. Ruderich
6   University of Applied Sciences Heilbronn, Department of Medical Informatics, Heilbronn, Germany
,
A. C. Wolff
4   University of Heidelberg, Department of Medical Informatics, Heidelberg, Germany
,
R. Haux
1   Technical University of Braunschweig, Institute for Medical Informatics, Braunschweig, Germany
,
C. Kulikowski
7   Rutgers University, Department of Computer Science, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
06 February 2018 (online)

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Summary

Objectives: To review recent research efforts in the field of ubiquitous computing in health care. To identify current research trends and further challenges for medical informatics.

Methods: Analysis of the contents of the Yearbook on Medical Informatics 2005 of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA).

Results: The Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2005 includes 34 original papers selected from 22 peer-reviewed scientific journals related to several distinct research areas: health and clinical management, patient records, health information systems, medical signal processing and biomedical imaging, decision support, knowledge representation and management, education and consumer informatics as well as bioinformatics. A special section on ubiquitous health care systems is devoted to recent developments in the application of ubiquitous computing in health care. Besides additional synoptical reviews of each of the sections the Yearbook includes invited reviews concerning E-Health strategies, primary care informatics and wearable healthcare.

Conclusions: Several publications demonstrate the potential of ubiquitous computing to enhance effectiveness of health services delivery and organization.

But ubiquitous computing is also a societal challenge, caused by the surrounding but unobtrusive character of this technology. Contributions from nearly all of the established sub-disciplines of medical informatics are demanded to turn the visions of this promising new research field into reality.

Keywords

Medical informatics - health informatics - International Medical Informatics Association - ubiquitous computing - pervasive computing - mobile computing - yearbook
 

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