National perspectives on the future of wireless in healthcare: Finland and the USA

Abstract The USA and Finland have substantially different populations, healthcare systems and wireless cultures. This diversity gives rise to differing expectations regarding the role of wireless technology in healthcare. An international project on the future of wireless healthcare collected expert views on the needs, goals and challenges of wireless technologies and solutions for improving healthcare. This paper presents the results of two surveys and face-to-face interviews with 120 experts in the USA and Finland in order to compare expert points of view in these very different markets. In general, the experts of both countries believe that ICT is not used efficiently in the healthcare industry and that there is a lack of useful mobile solutions for end users. Finnish experts emphasise outpatient and home healthcare needs. The US experts give a stronger emphasis to wireless access to patient records and medical information and wireless patient monitoring, while the Finnish experts emphasise simple alarm/call buttons, sensor belts and wristbands, and comfortable home monitoring. The experts from both countries strongly emphasise the importance of integration and interoperability for the full range of devices as well as robustness and user-friendliness.