Applying information and communications technologies to collect health data from remote settings: A systematic assessment of current technologies

  • Authors:

  • Raj Ashar;Sheri Lewis;David L. Blazes;J. P. Chretien

  • Affiliations:

  • The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA;The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA;Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center, Division of GEIS Operations, Silver Spring, MD, USA;Division of Preventive Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, MD, USA

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Biomedical Informatics
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

Modern information and communications technologies (ICTs) are now so feature-rich and widely available that they can be used to ''capture,'' or collect and transmit, health data from remote settings. Electronic data capture can reduce the time necessary to notify public health authorities, and provide important baseline information. A number of electronic health data capture systems based on specific ICTs have been developed for remote areas. We expand on that body of work by defining and applying an assessment process to characterize ICTs for remote-area health data capture. The process is based on technical criteria, and assesses the feasibility and effectiveness of specific technologies according to the resources and constraints of a given setting. Our characterization of current ICTs compares different system architectures for remote-area health data capture systems. Ultimately, we believe that our criteria-based assessment process will remain useful for characterizing future ICTs.