Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
12.3 Anticipating Issues Surrounding
Possible New Health Practice
Body area networks are seen as real options to solve challenges (aging society,
increasing number of chronic illnesses, etc.) that lie ahead in the long run in
the health-care sector. The introduction of such technological interventions
causes the care situation and its context to be altered. Such changes might
further bring about unforeseen consequences related to the way care pro-
cesses are structured, the way people interact and pursue their professional
obligations. In this paragraph, the aim is to anticipate on these issues in the
context of the emergence and uptake of BAN technologies in health care. To
fulfill this goal, it was necessary to trace how different actors expect future
health-care settings to change, what should be in place, which requirements
have to be fulfilled, and what consequences can be expected if the technologi-
cal concepts of BAN are to be socially embedded in the health-care setting
of the Netherlands. Our entrance point has been to collect and evaluate the
expectations of relevant actors along the innovation value chain (Den Boer et
al. 2009). To this end, we have performed semistructured interviews with 36
direct stakeholders from different backgrounds to collect their perspectives
on the necessary changes that have to take place and evaluate the evolution
of actions, roles, and responsibilities of different actors and the effect on the
entire system from different perspectives. The number of interviews con-
ducted for this study and the background of respondents are indicated in
Figure 12.2. Table 12.1 summarizes our interview results and describes the
role different actors in the health-care value chain envisioned to play with
Science and technology development
Industry
Health-care professionals
Other agencies
Government
Health-care insurance
Call center and telehealth consultant
Funding agency
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
FIGURE 12.2
Number of interviews conducted for this study and background of respondents.
