The future of healthcare lies in wireless technology
Wireless and mobile technologies are considered to change the way healthcare is to be seen and practiced in the future. There is a huge market potential worldwide for wireless and mobile solutions to boost preventive health monitoring, and to support healthcare processes.
Wireless technologies offer not only new opportunities to diagnose and care diseases in a new way but also opportunities to tailor the disease management concept individually for each patient so that it takes into account patients' special needs, wishes and situation in life. An overall goal for all patients is that they could continue their normal daily life despite their diseases.
FinNode is funding a multi-year international study of the future of mobile and wireless technology solutions in healthcare. The project called "Wirhe" was started with a pre-study, Phase 1, in 2005 with seven countries involved. Phase 2 started in fall 2007 and will end at HIMSS '08 in February where the interim results will be tested at a breakfast panel discussion and expert interviews during the conference. The last phase will use the frameworks developed in Phase 2 and it will scale up to approximately 15 countries. Phase 3 will end in the fall 2008 and the end results will be compiled into a "strategy and roadmap for use of wireless technologies in healthcare" publication.
Besides drawing a roadmap for healthcare providers, the goal of the research is to increase the understanding of the changes needed in the healthcare industry worldwide. The research also tries to define and formulate a bright vision and strategic goals as well as plan a set of activities and efforts needed to reach the goals.
The research is directed by Esko Alasaarela, adjunct professor and technology advisor at the University of Oulu, Finland. Partners in this research include Citris Research Program at University of California Berkeley, HealthTech, and Dongseo University, Korea.
For more information about the Wirhe study, click here.
