This article describes a distributed e-healthcare system that uses the service-oriented architecture as a means of designing, implementing, and managing healthcare services. ffective and timely communication between patients, physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals is vital to good healthcare. Current communication mechanisms, based largely on paper records and prescriptions, are old-fashioned, inefficient, and unreliable. In an age of electronic record keeping and communication, the healthcare industry is still tied to paper documents that are easily mislaid, often illegible, and easy to forge. When multiple healthcare professionals and facilities are involved in providing healthcare for a patient, the healthcare services provided aren't often coordinated. Countries that have centralized healthcare systems such as the UK have made considerable progress toward electronic medical records and prescriptions, including patient access to them. Despite concerns about security and privacy, such systems provide increased accuracy and efficiency, better communication among healthcare professionals, and reduced risk of prescription errors. In the US, such record keeping and communication are difficult to establish because of the highly diverse and decentralized nature of healthcare. Physicians' offices, clinics, hospitals, and IT Pro March/April 2008 P u b l i s h e d b y t h e I E E E C o m p u t e r S o c i e t y 1520-920 /08/$25.00
Kart, F. et al. REF described a distributed e-healthcare system that uses SOA as a mean of designing, implementing, and managing healthcare services.
Building a Distributed E-Healthcare System Using SOA
IT Professional
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Computer Science