A self-adapting healthcare information infrastructure using mobile computing devices

Abstract

Despite recent improvements in the gathering and sharing of patient medical information among healthcare providers, there remains a gap in the electronic medical record infrastructure. Patient data is not available in some situations, either because the infrastructure is inaccessible (as in a natural disaster) or because there is no way to link the patient to the infrastructure (e.g., the patient cannot supply necessary identification information). We describe the Poket Doktor System, an architecture that allows an individual to carry personal electronic medical information on a wireless handheld device such as a smart card, cell phone, or PDA. Medical workers can obtain this information wirelessly using handheld devices, desktop computers, network access points, etc. In this way, patients play an active role in the medical information infrastructure, resulting in a better healthcare delivery system.