• IE interfaces
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.177-185
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• 2007

e-Business in healthcare sector has been called e-Health, which is evolving into u-Health with advances of ubiquitous technologies. Seamless information sharing among health organizations is being discussed in many nations including USA, UK, Australia and Korea. Efforts for establishing the electronic health record (EHR) system and a nation-wide information sharing environment are called NHII (National Health Information Infrastructure) initiatives. With the advent of u-Health and progress of health information systems, information security issues in healthcare sector have become a very significant problem. In this paper, we analyze several issues on health information security occurring in u-Health environment and develop an information security standard for protecting health information. It is expected that the standard proposed in this work could be established as a national standard after sufficient reviews by information security experts, stakeholders in healthcare sector, and health professionals. Health organizations can establish comprehensive information security systems and protect health information more effectively using the standard. The result of this paper also contributes to relieving worries about privacy and security of individually identifiable health information brought by NHII implementation and u-Health systems.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.273-280
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• 2012

As changed the clinical environment, the interest on u-Healthcare service and systems has been increased. The ubiquitous healthcare(u-Healthcare) systems are constructed at the integrated environment that consists of various devices and systems basically such as personal health devices(PHDs) measuring body signals, information aggregators gathering the data transmitted from PHDs through wireless technology, and health information systems storing and managing personal health information transmitted from the information aggregators. International standards such as IEEE 11073 and HL7 have been specified for the interoperability of PHDs and health information systems, but the research on u-Healthcare systems that were developed and applied in the real clinical environment by adopting the standards was rarely conducted. Therefore, we developed an u-Healthcare system which can manage personal health information, such as blood glucose, blood pressure, and body composition, based on health information exchange standards. Moreover, we verified the stability of the developed system through clinical trial in patients with endocrine disease at the Kyungpook National University Hospital, and listed problems occurred during clinical trial and found their solutions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7757-7759
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• 2013

Physicians, in order to study the causes of cancer, detect cancer earlier, prevent or determine the effectiveness of treatment, and specify the reasons for the treatment ineffectiveness, need to access accurate, comprehensive, and timely cancer data. The cancer care environment has become more complex because of the need for coordination and communication among health care professionals with different skills in a variety of roles and the existence of large amounts of data with various formats. The goals of health care systems in such a complex environment are correct health data management, providing appropriate information needs of users to enhance the integrity and quality of health care, timely access to accurate information and reducing medical errors. These roles in new systems with use of agents efficiently perform well. Because of the potential capability of agent systems to solve complex and dynamic health problems, health care system, in order to gain full advantage of E- health, steps must be taken to make use of this technology. Multi-agent systems have effective roles in health service quality improvement especially in telemedicine, emergency situations and management of chronic diseases such as cancer. In the design and implementation of agent based systems, planning items such as information confidentiality and privacy, architecture, communication standards, ethical and legal aspects, identification opportunities and barriers should be considered. It should be noted that usage of agent systems only with a technical view is associated with many problems such as lack of user acceptance. The aim of this commentary is to survey applications, opportunities and barriers of this new artificial intelligence tool for cancer care information as an approach to improve cancer care management.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.4270-4284
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• 2019

This study presents a reference model (RM) and the architecture of a cognitive health advisor (CHA) that integrates information with ambient intelligence. By controlling the information using the CHA platform, the reference model can provide various ambient intelligent solutions to a user. Herein, a novel approach to a CHA RM based on evolutional cyber-physical systems is proposed. The objective of the CHA RM is to improve personal health by managing data integration from many devices as well as conduct a new feedback cycle, which includes training and consulting to improve quality of life. The RM can provide an overview of the basis for implementing concrete software architectures. The proposed RM provides a standardized clarification for developers and service designers in the design and implementation process. The CHA RM provides a new approach to developing a digital healthcare model that includes integrated systems, subsystems, and components. New features for chatbots and feedback functions set the position of the conversational interface system to improve human health by integrating information, analytics, and decisions and feedback as an advisor on the CHA platform.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.421-431
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• 2023

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to socio-economic issues, highlighting the importance of strengthening health systems for future infectious diseases. This study aims to analyze the relationship between health system preparedness, response levels, and COVID-19 fatality rates across 194 countries. Methods: This study examined various indicators of national health system preparedness and response, including health service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, essential medicines and health products, health financing, and leadership and governance. Results: A correlation was found between the health system and the COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR). Further examination of specific indicators within health service delivery, health workforce, health information systems, health financing, and leadership/governance showed significant correlations with the CFR. Multiple regression analysis, considering aging and urbanization rates, identified reproductive/maternal/newborn and child health, infectious diseases, nursing and midwifery personnel density, birth registration coverage, and out-of-pocket health expenditure as significant factors affecting the CFR. Conclusion: Countries with strong health system indicators experience lower case fatality rate from COVID-19. Strengthening access to essential health services, increasing healthcare personnel and resources, ensuring reliable health information, and bolstering overall health systems are crucial for preparedness against future infectious diseases.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.105-129
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• 2013

Recently, since the interest with well-being has been getting higher than ever, people want reliable source of information related with health and medical treatment. Because of the characteristics of information related with medical care, there have been difficulties to find the information from books, television and internet surfing, for treating disease. Misinformation that can be obtained when considering dangerous situations or side effects, the role of the e-Health system is becoming more important. The objective of this study is an analysis of correlation and effect among patient's information need, e-Health system use and system outcome. To achieve the object of this study, e-Health system had been given to patients of breast cancer in Wisconsin and Detroit for 16 weeks. As a result, 282 sample was gathered and modified to meet purpose of the study. As a result, the information needs of patients due to the performance of the e-Health systems and shown to affect even the perception of patients' emotional and physical health and social support.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.109-115
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• 1991

We are in the process of developing information systems that can be helpful for the effective management of community health services provided by the health center and subcenters in Hwachon Gun, Kangwon Do. In doing so, we have employed a different program design from those programs of information systems developed in other health centers or subcenters. The main idea of our design is dividing all the programs into two parts. One part is for the control of operation functions such as addding, seeking, editing, and printing needed to all the tasks. The other consists of a set of programs each of which deals with a specific task. It is believed that this program design would result in an information system that is simple to use, easy to modify and expand, and flexible to new computer technologies.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 1993

Human health is affected by physical, social, cultural, economic, and political environment. To improve health status, of the people we need much support from social system and to make social supporting system effective for health promotion, we need health information. Because, the health information is basic to the social supporting system for health promotion. So, we should construct health information systems as follows : 1. Health information system for children 2. Health information system for families 3. Health information system for adolescents 4. Health information system for mothers 5. Health information system for workers 6. Health information system for physical handicapped 7. Health information system for elders

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.113-128
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• 1999

This study was designed to analyze the status of government policy on the computerization of health centers throughout the country and to identify the factors affecting a successful implementation of the information system. As expected, age and commitment of health center director, computer budgets, user training, and technical supports from the information specialists were the important factors influencing the successful implementation of the system. Compared with the urban health centers, fewer rural health centers installed the system perhaps due to lack budgets and the urban-oriented system features. Moreover, the systems were unevenly distributed according to the geographic regions. Some strategies for successful dissemination of the systems were also suggested.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.368-374
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• 2023

Background: Recognizing that access to safe and healthy working conditions is a human right, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for specific occupational safety and health (OSH) programs for health workers (HWs). The WHO health systems' building blocks, and the International Labour Organization (ILO), highlight the importance of information as part of effective systems. This study examined how OSH stakeholders access, use, and value an occupational health information system (OHIS). Methods: A cross-sectional survey of OSH stakeholders was conducted as part of a larger quasi experimental study in four teaching hospitals. The study hospitals and participants were purposefully selected and data collected using a modified questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions. Quantitative analysis was conducted and themes identified for qualitative analysis. Ethics approval was provided by the University of Pretoria and University of British Columbia. Results: There were 71 participants comprised of hospital managers, health and safety representatives, trade unions representatives and OSH professionals. At least 42% reported poor accessibility and poor timeliness of OHIS for decision-making. Only 50% had access to computers and 27% reported poor computer skills. When existing, OHIS was poorly organized and needed upgrades, with 85% reporting the need for significant reforms. Only 45% reported use of OHIS for decision-making in their OSH role. Conclusion: Given the gap in access and utilization of information needed to protect worker's rights to a safe and healthy workplace, more attention is warranted to OHIS development and use as well as education and training in South Africa and beyond.