A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy

Mougiakakou, SG; Kyriacou, E; Perakis, K; Papadopoulos, H; Androulidakis, A; Konnis, G; Tranfaglia, R; Pecchia, L; Bracale, U; Pattichis, C; Koutsouris, D

dc.contributor.author	Mougiakakou, SG	en
dc.contributor.author	Kyriacou, E	en
dc.contributor.author	Perakis, K	en
dc.contributor.author	Papadopoulos, H	en
dc.contributor.author	Androulidakis, A	en
dc.contributor.author	Konnis, G	en
dc.contributor.author	Tranfaglia, R	en
dc.contributor.author	Pecchia, L	en
dc.contributor.author	Bracale, U	en
dc.contributor.author	Pattichis, C	en
dc.contributor.author	Koutsouris, D	en
dc.date.accessioned	2014-03-01T01:34:52Z
dc.date.available	2014-03-01T01:34:52Z
dc.date.issued	2011	en
dc.identifier.issn	1475-925X	en
dc.identifier.uri	https://dspace.lib.ntua.gr/xmlui/handle/123456789/20913
dc.subject	Chronic Disease	en
dc.subject	Continuing Education	en
dc.subject	Data Storage	en
dc.subject	Data Transmission	en
dc.subject	Digital Subscriber Line	en
dc.subject	Feasibility Study	en
dc.subject	Healthcare System	en
dc.subject	Home Care	en
dc.subject	Medical Image	en
dc.subject	Mobile Network	en
dc.subject	Primary Healthcare	en
dc.subject	Rural Health	en
dc.subject	User Satisfaction	en
dc.subject	Integrated Service Digital Network	en
dc.subject	Wireless Local Area Network	en
dc.subject.classification	Engineering, Biomedical	en
dc.subject.other	Biosignals	en
dc.subject.other	Chronic disease	en
dc.subject.other	Data storage	en
dc.subject.other	Different services	en
dc.subject.other	e-Learning application	en
dc.subject.other	Ehealth	en
dc.subject.other	Electronic healthcare	en
dc.subject.other	Feasibility studies	en
dc.subject.other	Health care providers	en
dc.subject.other	Health-care system	en
dc.subject.other	Healthcare services	en
dc.subject.other	Home care	en
dc.subject.other	Home telecare	en
dc.subject.other	Integrated platform	en
dc.subject.other	Integrated services digital network	en
dc.subject.other	Internet connection	en
dc.subject.other	Isolated areas	en
dc.subject.other	Medical images	en
dc.subject.other	Phone lines	en
dc.subject.other	Primary healthcare	en
dc.subject.other	Rural health	en
dc.subject.other	Subscriber lines	en
dc.subject.other	System interoperability	en
dc.subject.other	Systems support	en
dc.subject.other	Technological solution	en
dc.subject.other	Telecollaboration	en
dc.subject.other	Teleconsultation	en
dc.subject.other	Telemedicine services	en
dc.subject.other	Telemedicine systems	en
dc.subject.other	Urban site	en
dc.subject.other	User satisfaction	en
dc.subject.other	Arts computing	en
dc.subject.other	Health care	en
dc.subject.other	Health risks	en
dc.subject.other	Integration	en
dc.subject.other	Internet	en
dc.subject.other	Interoperability	en
dc.subject.other	Medical imaging	en
dc.subject.other	Personnel training	en
dc.subject.other	Satellite links	en
dc.subject.other	Telemedicine	en
dc.subject.other	Wireless local area networks (WLAN)	en
dc.subject.other	Cellular telephone systems	en
dc.title	A feasibility study for the provision of electronic healthcare tools and services in areas of Greece, Cyprus and Italy	en
heal.type	journalArticle	en
heal.identifier.primary	10.1186/1475-925X-10-49	en
heal.identifier.secondary	http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1475-925X-10-49	en
heal.identifier.secondary	49	en
heal.language	English	en
heal.publicationDate	2011	en
heal.abstract	Through this paper, we present the initial steps for the creation of an integrated platform for the provision of a series of eHealth tools and services to both citizens and travelers in isolated areas of thesoutheast Mediterranean, and on board ships travelling across it. The platform was created through an INTERREG IIIB ARCHIMED project called INTERMED.Methods: The support of primary healthcare, home care and the continuous education of physicians are the three major issues that the proposed platform is trying to facilitate. The proposed system is based on state-of-the-art telemedicine systems and is able to provide the following healthcare services: i) Telecollaboration and teleconsultation services between remotely located healthcare providers, ii) telemedicine services in emergencies, iii) home telecare services for ""at risk"" citizens such as the elderly and patients with chronic diseases, and iv) eLearning services for the continuous training through seminars of both healthcare personnel (physicians, nurses etc) and persons supporting ""at risk"" citizens.These systems support data transmission over simple phone lines, internet connections, integrated services digital network/digital subscriber lines, satellite links, mobile networks (GPRS/3G), and wireless local area networks. The data corresponds, among others, to voice, vital biosignals, still medical images, video, and data used by eLearning applications. The proposed platform comprises several systems, each supporting different services. These were integrated using a common data storage and exchange scheme in order to achieve system interoperability in terms of software, language and national characteristics.Results: The platform has been installed and evaluated in different rural and urban sites in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. The evaluation was mainly related to technical issues and user satisfaction. The selected sites are, among others, rural health centers, ambulances, homes of ""at-risk"" citizens, and a ferry.Conclusions: The results proved the functionality and utilization of the platform in various rural places in Greece, Cyprus and Italy. However, further actions are needed to enable the local healthcare systems and the different population groups to be familiarized with, and use in their everyday lives, mature technological solutions for the provision of healthcare services. © 2011 Mougiakakou et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.	en
heal.publisher	BIOMED CENTRAL LTD	en
heal.journalName	BioMedical Engineering Online	en
dc.identifier.doi	10.1186/1475-925X-10-49	en
dc.identifier.isi	ISI:000292239800001	en
dc.identifier.volume	10	en