Wireless for Managing Health Care: The Wirhe Framework

Abstract

The Wirhe project is an international collaborative study that focused on the future of healthcare needs, technology requirements and solutions for effective use of wireless technologies for health care delivery. This paper presents results of a Wirhe survey of 85 experts and individual interviews with 35 experts. Key findings include: 1) both notable quality improvements and process enhancements can be expected from effectively utilizing wireless technologies and mobile solutions, 2) integration of personal health monitoring and professional health management is a key issue to be addressed and 3) health promotion and illness prevention efforts can grow by utilizing mobile solutions. We propose a framework that can be used in developing wireless health care solutions for managing diseases and related health problems. This framework can also be used to structure and stratify the needs of technologies and solutions, and to estimate their market potential. 790 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. 791 Wireless for Managing Health Care