A healthcare practice supported by electronic processes and communication such as electronic or digital processes are known as e-health.

Forms of IT and e-health

There are various forms of IT and e-health in the field of medicine/healthcare and information technology, they are electronic health records, telemedicine, consumer health informatics, health knowledge management, virtual health care teams, m-health, medical research using grids, and healthcare information systems.

In electronic health records, it enables the communication of patient data between different healthcare professionals, for example specialists.

In telemedicine, physical and psychological treatments are provided to the patients from a distant location. It helps in eliminating distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations.  Cyber medicine is the use of the Internet to deliver medical services, such as medical consultations and drug prescriptions. It is the successor to telemedicine, where doctors would consult and treat patients distantly through telephone or fax.

Consumer health informatics or CHI is the use of electronic resources on medical topics by healthy individuals or patients. It helps to bridge the gap between patients and health resources. Consumer Health Informatics includes technologies focused on patients as the primary users to health information. Consumer Health Informatics includes Information Resources, Communications, Remote Monitoring, Videoconferencing, and Telepresence.

In health knowledge management, an organization can get an overview of latest medical journals, best practice guidelines or epidemiological tracking which includes physician resources such as Medscape and MDLinx.

In virtual healthcare teams, it consists of healthcare professionals who collaborate and share information on patients through digital equipment for transmural care.

In m-Health, it includes the use of mobile devices in collecting aggregate and patient level health data, providing healthcare information to practitioners, researchers, and patients, real-time monitoring of patient vitals, and direct provision of care through mobile telemedicine.

Medical research using Grids is a powerful tool used for computing and data management. It is capable to handle large amounts of heterogeneous data.

Healthcare Information Systems refers to software solutions for appointment scheduling, patient data management, work schedule management and other administrative tasks in healthcare.

Industry Overview

E-Health is one of the emerging information and communication technology. Since the rise of the Internet in 1990s, the e-Health industry and accessing health information and services on the Internet has sustained enormous growth, giving people access to the largest volume of health information in history.

In US, online resources such as WebMD and various social media options are a huge source of health information. Even an average person can access to health information without the medical expertise or scientific training to interpret much of the information.

Benefits of e-health

E-health is used to support the economic rationale and also improves home healthcare.  

Drawbacks of e-health

Drawbacks of e-health include the dangers of misinformation, the Internet un-savvy missing out, and privacy and ethical issues related to online discussions and chat groups.

IT and e-health Industry Current Trends

As per the reports published by GSMA, the global m-Health market growth is around $23 billion by 2017and e-Health market is estimated to grow to $160 billion in 2015, at an average growth rate of 12-16 percent.

Major IT and e-health Industry Players

In Australia, major IT and e-health industry players are Oracle, Orion Health, Telstra, Medicare, NEC, Neuroscience Research Australia, Mater Misericordiae, GP Partners Ltd, iSOFT, and Medibank.