Title: The emergence of e-health: using virtual reality and the internet for providing advanced healthcare services

Authors: Giuseppe Riva

Addresses: Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Applied Technology for Neuro- Psychology Lab., Casella Postale 1, 28900 Verbania, Italy

Abstract: Healthcare is one of the areas that could be most dramatically reshaped by the emergence of new communication technologies. In fact, technological advancements in healthcare are rapidly increasing the options that are available to clinicians for the provision of health services. In general, distributed communication media could become a significant enabler of consumer health initiatives. In fact, they provide an increasingly accessible communications channel for a growing segment of the population. Moreover, in comparison to traditional communication technologies, shared media offer greater interactivity and better tailoring of information to individual needs. E-health, the integration of telehealth technologies with the internet is the next logical step in this process. The goal of the paper is to describe the processes by which internet and Virtual Reality based e-health applications can contribute to the provision of up-to-date healthcare services. Particular attention is given to the technology, ergonomic issues, human factors and organisational changes needed for the exploitation of e-health services.

Keywords: internet; virtual reality; telemedicine; e-health.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2002.001127

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2002 Vol.4 No.1/2, pp.15-40

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

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