Achieving Effective Integrated E-Care Beyond the Silos

Meyer, Ingo

Jun 2014 · IGI Global

About this ebook

Recent global and national debates have shown that demographic change, the rising incidence of chronic disease, and the unmet need for more personalized care are trends demanding a new, integrated approach to health and social care. The advancement and adoption of technology in both health and social care settings is a valuable tool for encouraging change and improving the quality and efficiency of care provided to patients and care clients.

Achieving Effective Integrated E-Care Beyond the Silos presents a collection of real-life examples, frameworks, business models, financial implications, and methods of evaluating the technological tools that are enabling a more human-centered approach to health and social care. Based on relevant research in the field of integrated e-care, this publication is ideally designed for use by practitioners, researchers, and decision-makers in the care field.

About the author

Ingo Meyer is a senior research consultant at empirica. He holds a degree in Sociology, Political Science, and Theology from Bonn University. He has been working for empirica and in the field of ICT for health, care and independent living since 2002. For the past six years he has been focussing on issues of integrated care, preferably supported by the use of ICT tools. In this context, Ingo works on requirements-based service definition, the development of integrated health and care service processes and their implementation in real-life environments. One aspect that he has been specialising in is the development of viable business models for integrated care, based on socio-economic impact assessment and cost-benefit analysis. Among other things, he has been and is involved in projects such as CommonWell (www.commonwell.eu), INDEPENDENT (www.independent-project.eu), SmartCare (www.pilotsmartcare.eu) and the recently started BeyondSilos project.

Sonja Müller is senior research consultant at empirica. She holds a degree in geography, urban development, and economic sociology from Bonn University. Since joining empirica in 2001, her main fields of work are in the area of ICT for social care, independent living and integrated care. Sonja has strong expertise in requirements elicitation, service definition and process model development as well as managing large-scale pilots. She was strongly involved in the first pilot B on ICT supported integrated social care and healthcare services “CommonWell” and is currently working in the SmartCare (www.pilotsmartcare.eu) and the recently started BeyondSilos project.

Lutz Kubitschke is senior research consultant at empirica. He holds an interdisciplinary degree in social research, economics and law (Diplom-Sozialwirt) from Göttingen University. Since he joined empirica in 1993 he has mainly been concerned with investigating the potentials generally provided by digital technologies for supporting vulnerable population groups and older citizens. He has a long standing track record in socio-technical and policy related research, and he has coordinated a range of high-profile projects in this field, the most recent one being a Europe-wide pilot project with a focus on better joining-up existing social and health care services with help of ICT (www.independent-project.eu). He is also involved in the ongoing SmarCare project (www.pilotsmartcare.eu) delivering integrated ICT-enabled care services to older citizens in ten European countries. [Editor]