Reference Design for Smart Collaborative Telehealth and Telecare Services Based on IoT Technologies

The demographic development shows aging societies through-out the globe, leading to higher demands on the health and care systems due to age-related disabilities, chronic diseases, etc. Telehealth and telecare services for more efficient support of health and care providers are needed, which can be significantly improved by the continuous technological developments in areas such as sensor devices, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud services, and data analysis. This paper addresses the potential of selected emerging technologies to make eHealth systems smarter, more collaborative and more efficient. As a result of the analysis of the most promising technological trends, characteristics of future telehealth and telecare services are derived, requirements are identified, and a future eHealth reference design is proposed.