Pervasive Computing and Healthcare

A confluence of developments has led to the possibility of realizing a vision of pervasive healthcare. These include, but are not limited to, society becoming increasingly mobile, dramatic advances in various areas of technology and computer science, exponentially increasing healthcare costs coupled with workforce issues, the need to provide effective and efficient healthcare, and the change in the makeup of leading diseases most notably the increase in noncommunicable (or chronic) diseases. This is actually a very exciting time in healthcare delivery and one of the major challenges is to prudently adopt and implement appropriate pervasive healthcare solutions. To do this successfully, naturally requires a full appreciation of the key considerations in pervasive computing and healthcare; in particular, an appreciation of network healthcare operations. The objective of this chapter is to provide such a holistic perspective.