eHealth+Challenges

In eHealth, ICTs are implemented into one of the most complex business environments on the planet. It should come as no surprise to anyone that health care organizations are challenged to successfully develop and implement ICTs in a way that achieves the benefits promised in business cases while at the same time avoids the privacy, security and safety risks that are introduced into the health care environment by ICTs.

Understanding this business environment is the first step in realizing opportunities and managing risks. Healthcare is a business like no other. It differs radically from the business services we encounter every day such as financial services, retail, manufacturing, or government services. If there is to be any comparison at all, it should be with other high-risk industries such as aviation or nuclear power where failure can result in serious injury or death.

Some of the challenges for eHealth are as follows:


 * eHealth relies on the successful integration of many health information systems ranging from those operated by independent practitioners and health care organizations to systems operating at regional, provincial or state and even national levels.


 * Health care for a single individual is delivered by many independent health professionals, health care organizations and private companies that have different roles, business priorities and underlying ICT support systems.


 * Decisions on eHealth priorities are often made by government or private insurance paymasters whose understanding of the impact of ICTs on the care-giving process is limited.


 * Business and governance models for eHealth programs are often confused, or in many cases do not exist. This results in significant role confusion, impaired decision-making processes, and lack of accountability for benefits realization and risk management.


 * There is often a disconnect between those who are asked to make investments in time, effort and money, and those who will reap the benefits.


 * eHealth standards for hardware, software, data and supporting business processes are in an early developmental state creating issues of interoperability and usability.


 * While there is significant experience in the use of ICTs in health care for administrative applications, ICTs and information management techniques are relatively new to the clinical and care-delivery environment.


 * Many of the hypotheses about eHealth, such as its potential for improving patient outcomes or reducing medical error, are as yet unproven.