The aspects of safety in future care settings.
Communication and cooperation processes in the growing healthcare and welfare domain require a well-defined set of security services provided by a standards-based interoperable security infrastructure. Any communication and collaboration procedures require a verifiable purpose. Without such a purpose for communicating with each other, there's no need to communicate at all. But security is not the only aspect that needs to carefully be investigated. More and more, aspects of safety, privacy, and quality get importance while discussing about future-proof health information systems and health networks--regardless whether local, regional and national ones or even pan-European networks. The patient needs to be moved into the center of each care process. During the course of the current paradigm change from an organization centered via a process-related to a person-centered healthcare and welfare system approach, different new technologies need to be applied in order to meet the new challenges arising from both legal and technical circumstances. International organizations like WHO, UNESCO and the European Parliament increasingly aim at enhancing the safety aspect in future care settings, and so do many projects and studies. Beside typical information and communication devices, extended use of modern IT technology in healthcare and welfare includes large medical devices like, e.g., CT, X-ray and MR but also very tiny devices like sensors worn or implemented in a person's clothing. Safety gets on top of the nations priority list for several reasons. The paper aims at identifying some of these reasons along with possible solutions on how to increase patient's awareness, confidence, and acceptance in future care settings.
Pharow
Peter
P
eHealth Competence Center, University of Regensburg Medical Center, Germany. peter.pharow@ehealth-cc.de
Blobel
Bernd G M E
BG
Savastano
Mario
M
D016494:Computer Security; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005060:Europe; D006751:Hospital Information Systems / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D017751:Safety Management / Q000458:organization & administration*