title: A simple and reliable health monitoring system for shoulder health: proposal.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The current health care system is complex and inefficient. A simple and reliable health monitoring system that can help patients perform medical self-diagnosis is seldom readily available. Because the medical system is vast and complex, it has hampered or delayed patients in seeking medical advice or treatment in a timely manner, which may potentially affect the patient's chances of recovery, especially those with severe sicknesses such as cancer, and heart disease.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology in designing a simple, low cost, Internet-based health-screening platform.
  
  
  METHODS
  This health-screening platform will enable patients to perform medical self-diagnosis over the Internet. Historical data has shown the importance of early detection to ensure patients receive proper treatment and speedy recovery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The platform is designed with special emphasis on the user interface. Standard Web-based user-interface design is adopted so the user feels ease to operate in a familiar Web environment. In addition, graphics such as charts and graphs are used generously to help users visualize and understand the result of the diagnostic. The system is developed using hypertext preprocessor (PHP) programming language. One important feature of this system platform is that it is built to be a stand-alone platform, which tends to have better user privacy security. The prototype system platform was developed by the National Cheng Kung University Ergonomic and Design Laboratory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The completed prototype of this system platform was submitted to the Taiwan Medical Institute for evaluation. The evaluation of 120 participants showed that this platform system is a highly effective tool in health-screening applications, and has great potential for improving the medical care quality for the general public.
authors.affiliation: National Cheng Kung University, Department of Industrial Design, Tainan City, Taiwan. liusf@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Shuo-Fang
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yann-Long
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: PHP; health care service; network platform; scale design; shoulder health