Data Communication and Network Infrastructure

Publisher Summary This chapter attempts to focus on providing a basic understanding of data communications technologies and how they are deployed in various forms in wired and wireless infrastructures to support applications in m-health and telemedicine. Mobile health (m-health) and telemedicine provide alternative and supplementary solutions for coping with new problems in health care. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications and information technologies for the provision of health care to individuals at a distance. Communication technologies are being used in health care in a variety of ways—including notification, messaging, web access, videoconferencing, teleradiology, telesurgical consultation, and access to legacy applications. The integration of health care with the Internet and wireless, telecommunication, and mobile technologies have led to increased accessibility to health care providers, more efficient processes, and higher quality of health care services. The deployment of communications technologies and network infrastructures aims at eliminating the expensive components of the conventional health care system, providing better health care services to an increasing number of people, and reducing the overall health care cost. The goal of using communication technologies in medical environments is to provide care when face-to-face physician-to-patient encounters are not possible and to improve the overall quality of health care at an affordable cost. Telemedicine is used for remote sensing, decision-making, and collaborative arrangements for the real-time management of patients at a distance.