Healthcare Applications for Clinicians - E-Healthcare Systems and Wireless Communications - page 65

High Costs expect as proper feedback. (Gustafson, D. H.,

2007) The application in question could make
such queries and their responses more concise
and organized. One of the attributes the system
could possess is to generate a list of medical phe-
nomena, mechanisms and activities to be cautious
of, which would be vital for the patient's relatives
to be familiar with. (Gustafson, D.H., 2007) The
clinician could select a generic illness/cause of
death from, i.e.: a combo box on the appliance,
followed by selecting an option to create a to-do
list, and a not to-do list for the clinicians to convey
to the patient's relatives. The not to-do list would
assist the patient's relatives at comprehending ac-
tions that could unintentionally harm the patient.
(Gustafson, D.H., 2007) Initially this could start
off as an application owned by clinicians, which
over a period of time could become customized
to be utilized as an appliance to be used directly
by the patient's family and friends.

Another challenging factor affecting the practice of
wireless technology in healthcare environment is
the cost associated with software packages, server
implementations and upgrades and maintenance of
the wireless network (Fischer & Stewart, 2002).

Deploying Wireless Networks
without Disruption

An important barrier in the way of deploying a
wireless network in a hospital environment is
the fact that any such activity has to be carefully
managed without disrupting the care process at
the hospital. This is the reason why installation
of a wireless network in a hospital is more com-
plicated when compared with the installation of
such a network in any other environment (Ha-
venstein, 2005).

Existing Applications being Catered
to Other Healthcare Departments 5. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

5.1. Future of Generic and Web-
Based Applications for Clinicians

In addition to overcoming existing challenges
with the intensification of technologic aid in the
biomedical world, clinical experts could extend
existing healthcare systems to departments not
being catered by them at present. For instance, the
ISAAC which distinctly caters to cancer patients
today could be extended and customized for pa-
tients of other departments of healthcare. Having
an authentic online base to check for symptoms
of a vast array of illnesses or diseases would be
much appreciated by patients. It would not take
an excessive amount of time to take the tests for
signs of an illness at their respective houses. A
positive result would then strike them to visit a
physician without delay. Triggering healthcare op-
portunities for those who do not have access to or
who do not relate to the provisions being offered
in today's time would be reasonably challenging.

Applications for Helping Patients
and their Relatives Deal with
Issues of Dying and Death

In addition to the suggestions mentioned above,
it would be interesting to develop an application
which could help determine reasons of dying of a
patient, and all possible precautions that must be
carried out when dealing with the patient. (Gus-
tafson, D. H., 2007) It is common knowledge that
once people become aware of their relative/friend
suffering from a severe form of illness, they tend
to be confused in terms of what exact measures
are to be followed subsequent to the medical
findings. This often results in the relatives of the
patient constantly pursuing the assigned doctor,
not knowing accurately what to ask and what to