Healthcare Applications for Clinicians - E-Healthcare Systems and Wireless Communications - page 59

ISAAC to share recommendations of importance to the

patient. The same reason of motivation could lead
to the physician spending more time and paying
more attention towards each patient involved. Fur-
thermore, authorities of hospitals and clinics may
possibly have to revise the guidelines concerning
payment in regard to doctor-patient web-based
interactions in their codes of conduct. (Singh,
H. et al., 2009) Further, it may not always be a
good idea to rely on the email mechanism when
in need of urgent updates or replies. (Sands, D,
2008) This drawback could come about as a result
of the time the email was sent. If the sender and
recipient are in areas of different time zones for
whichever reason, and the sender sent the email
at an odd hour from the recipient's approach, the
recipient is least likely to respond to the mail
immediately. This in turn would waste both the
sender's and recipient's time. (Sands, D, 2008)
A better alternative would be a direct telephone
call. (Sands, D, 2008)

In spite of offering numerous advantages to a
cluster of cancer patients together with healthcare
specialists, the ISAAC triggers several challenge
to clinicians. Often, it is essential to keep track
of doctor's comments, expert suggestions, and
patient progress in written form alongside the
patient progress in graphical form. One area of
improvement for the ISAAC is the availability of
an option for taking into account written comments
and observations beside the charts. (Medicine
2.0, 2008) This way the graphs would be easier
to follow, as the clinician would have a good un-
derstanding of what was observed and felt while
the data was being entered into the system. Also,
measuring patient progress through the inspection
of graphs was found to be unrealistic. (Medicine
2.0, 2008) Adding to that, clinicians and patients
might have to face a certain level of difficulty
considering the means of interaction between
the two. (Medicine 2.0, 2008) Absence of direct
human contact, such as a communication gap, in
the doctor-patient relationship can cause individu-
als on either sides of the link to face discomfort.

Exposure to the Underprivileged

Despite the fact that the internet serves as a
helping hand to many individuals belonging to
a middle class, most of the individuals who are
part of the working class do not have the means
to experience internet facilities. (James, M, 2002)
With the growth of technology, patient-physician
interactions have also developed. The inclination
of patient-physician online interaction may affect
those who are unable to afford web services and
would prefer physically visiting a doctor when in
need. If patient-physician interactions in the next
few years turn completely web-oriented, people
who are not used to computers would have a tough
time trying to communicate with a clinician in a
concise approach. Further, there is a significant
window between those who cannot afford com-
puters and related services, and those who utterly
rely on these provisions. (James, M, 2002) Finding
and providing a balanced healthcare solution to
this problem would be reasonably problematic.

4. WIRELESS HEALTHCARE
APPLICATIONS FOR CLINICIANS

4.1. Overview

Where web-based applications for healthcare
have proved to be a turning point in the field of
healthcare, wireless technologies have further
revolutionized healthcare applications which
makes it extremely useful for health professionals
yet challenging for developers. Wireless applica-
tions in the healthcare industry have completely
transformed the way patients are treated and have
helped in changing the entire clinical workflow.
It is observed commonly that hospital data
related to patients is not available within quick
reach of the clinicians inside the hospital when