eHealth Services
Professors Paschalina Lialiou
Course category CSM/DS
Course ID DS-720
Credits 5
Lecture hours 3 hours
Lab hours 2 hours
Digital resources View on Aristarchus (Open e-Class)

Learning Outcomes

The objective of this course is to present topics regarding the provision and the necessity of developing electronic health services. Various examples of specialized electronic healthcare systems (e.g. radiology systems, laboratory systems, e-prescribing systems, health record systems, emergency care systems, primary healthcare systems) are mentioned and fundamental concepts of health informatics are introduced. The course covers a broad range of ehealth topics such as electronic health records, security and interoperability of health information systems, European and American standards, medical data and services codification, healthcare internet of things, big data and healthcare analytics, supporting systems of modern medical and administrative systems (e.g. precision medicine, value based care). The course will incorporate a significant laboratory component with software tools that allow students to implement such e-health services.

Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to:

  • Analyze the constraints of paper-based medical records and the necessity of their complete, efficient and effective digitization according to best practices
  • Describe the advantages and challenges of automated order-entry systems and medical decision support systems
  • Identify the advantages of electronic health services and design architectures (on conceptual and physical layer) with emphasis on medical data management
  • Identify the advantages of health information exchange (HIE) and interoperability of corresponding systems aiming at health data and processes integration
  • Describe the basic services and current security standards and incorporate corresponding systems and medical data security policies
  • Build/choose and use the appropriate digital technologies and architectures for health services improvement in healthcare organizations
  • Develop ehealth applications by using digital tools

Course Content

  1. Healthcare systems, necessity for e-health, cost containment and service improvement, e-health and healthcare systems.
  2. International trends and ehealth system architectures. Best practices for ehealth systems development and operation. E-health system security.
  3. Electronic Health Records (content definition and structure, electronic medical and nursing record, electronic health record architectures, standards adoption, health information security, cost-benefits, international practices).
  4. Personal health records (personal health record architectures, data types, security issues, benefits to healthcare system, international practices).
  5. E-health technical and semantic interoperability.
  6. E-health application development portfolio, international practices, functional and technical features of e-health examples, homecare, e-prescribing, e-referral, and prototype systems.
  7. Development of ehealth applications by using appropriate digital tools.
  8. Healthcare Internet of Things (IoT) and supporting systems of precision medicine and personalized care.
  9. Big data and healthcare analytics. Problems and critical medical and administrative decisions where they are used.

Suggested Bibliography

  • Merida L. Johns (2010): Health Information Management Technology, Ahima Press.
  • Karen A. Wager, Frances W. Lee, John P. Glaser (2009): Health Care Information Systems: A Practical Approach for Health Care Management, Jossey-Bass.
  • Joseph Tan (2010): Developments in Healthcare Information Systems and Healthcare Informatics: Improving Efficiency and Productivity, IGI Global.
  • Margret K. Amatayakul (2009): Electronic Health Records, American Health Information Management Association.
  • Stephan P. Kudyba (2010): Healthcare Informatics: Improving Efficiency and Productivity, CRC Press.
  • Tim Benson (2016): Principles of Health Interoperability: SNOMED CT, HL7 and FHIR, Springer.
  • Susan H, Fenton (2013): Introduction to Healthcare Informatics, American Health Information Management Association.
  • Jason Burke (2013): Health Analytics: Gaining the Insights to Transform Health Care, Wiley.
  • Brojo Kishore Mishra, Raghvendra Kumar (2018): Big Data Management and the Internet of Things for Improved Health Systems, IGI Global.
  • Methods of Information in Medicine, Thieme
  • Journal of Medical Systems, Springer
  • International Journal of Medical Informatics, Elsevier
  • IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics