Hamzeh J Awad
Higher College of Technology, UAE
Title: Smart electronic health applications-Telehealth for diabetes: Paradigm shift in diabetes practice and patient’s self-management
Biography
Biography: Hamzeh J Awad
Abstract
There are eight key elements that define a smart city: smart governance, smart building, smart healthcare, smart mobility, smart infrastructure, smart technology, smart energy and smart citizens. By 2025, it is estimate that there will be enormous increase in smart health applications in practice. The application of technology such as Telehealth and mobile health will give rise to smart healthcare cities, where the focus will be on improving the operating efficiency and quality. TeleHealth services with proven track records today can be broadly categorized into three groups: Teleconsultation, telemonitoring, and electronic health record. Teleconsultation allows patients to consult doctors about non-emergency medical conditions such as video call over an online link without having to step out of their house. Telemonitoring on the other hand, helps healthcare professionals keep a close eye on patients dealing with chronic medical conditions such as vital signs of blood pressure and glucose level. In the back, electronic health record keeping ties the whole system together with no more paper work. It allows healthcare professionals to see a patient’s entire medical history, helping them make more accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment of their conditions. Close management of metabolic disorders by monitoring vital signs such as blood glucose and blood pressure is considered to be the key element in any management or prevention protocol. Yet, the magnitude of TeleHealth effects remains debatable, especially with the variation in patients’ characteristics (e.g., background, ability for self-management, medical condition, education and healthcare infrastructure). In Middle East, increasing awareness about TeleHealth in general and telemonitoring in particular and investigation of telemonitoring efficacy and cost-effectiveness is needed to prevent and manage metabolic disorders by monitoring lifestyle parameters and control glycemic level and blood pressure as the main cause of metabolic disorders complications.