Any intervention that may be used to promote health, to prevent, diagnose or treat disease or for rehabilitation or long-term care. This includes the pharmaceuticals, devices, procedures, and organizational systems used in healthcare.
Published in Chapter:
The Importance of Information and Communication Technologies in Establishing Healthcare Services with a Universal Coverage
Davuthan Günaydin (Namık Kemal University, Turkey), Hakan Cavlak (Namık Kemal University, Turkey), GamzeYıldız Şeren (Namık Kemal University, Turkey), and Korhan Arun (Namık Kemal University, Turkey)
Copyright: © 2015
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-6635-1.ch026
Abstract
One of the most important challenges faced by the healthcare system is the organization of healthcare services to cope with the increase in population and aging of citizens. Especially in developing countries, demographic movements of the population, regional disparities, political concerns, and increasing expectations of health services have led to a search for new ways to serve all of the population with healthcare services. With traditional methods, it is not possible to increase the supply of health services because of inadequate infrastructure and shortcomings in quantity and quality of healthcare staff. This new health system called e-health and uses all of the possibilities provided by information and communication technologies that aim to improve public health. In this chapter, the effects of e-health practices on the quality and accessibility of healthcare services are assessed and the extent of e-health practices in Turkey are evaluated.