516
B. Farahani et al.
11.6.7 Design Automation Challenges .............................................. 537
11.6.8 Data Management ............................................................ 538
11.6.9 Context Awareness ........................................................... 538
11.6.10 Availability and Reliability................................................... 539
11.6.11 Data Transmission ............................................................ 539
11.6.12 Security and Privacy .......................................................... 540
11.7 Case Study: Collaborative Machine Learning-Driven Healthcare Internet of Things 541
11.8 Summary ................................................................................. 543
References ........................................................................................ 544
11.1 Modern Healthcare Challenges
Many parts of the world are facing significant healthcare challenges to manage the
rapidly increasing aging population, people with chronic issues, disease epidemics,
child mortality, poor living conditions with lack of sanitation, lack of clean water,
and rising pollution. While the need for medical care has increased over the last
several years, the traditional hospital-centric model of care requiring patients to visit
a physician when sick is still the norm. Managing chronic conditions requires that
patients visit a clinic or hospital so that a physician may monitor disease progression
and adjust treatment based on clinical observations. Generally, hospitals are based
on a reactive, physician-and-disease-centered model that does not include patients
as active participants in the medical process. The main obstacles and challenges
faced by hospital-centered healthcare practices are listed below [1, 2].
• Time and perspective limitations – Because the number of people dealing with
illness or disabling conditions continues to grow, physicians are unable to
spend significant quality time with patients. Shorter exam times leave physicians
with less perspective into the patient’s daily life including diet, sleep, physical
activity, social interactions, etc. Understanding all of these aspects is important
in appropriately diagnosing and treating patients effectively.
• Adherence monitoring – Physicians are often ill-equipped to monitor patient
compliance with prescribed treatments such as rehabilitative exercise, medication, or dietary restrictions. Non-compliance with treatment can increase the
risk of future hospitalization which increases a patient’s healthcare cost and the
economic burden [3].
• Increasing geriatric population – The number of older adults (60+ years)
worldwide is anticipated to grow by more than 200%, from 841 million people
in 2013 to over 2 billion people by 2050; therefore, additional medical facilities
and healthcare resources will be required to treat a larger geriatric population [1].
• Urbanization – The world health organization (WHO) forecasted that by 2015,
70% of the global population would live in urban areas, implying that large cities
would require greater healthcare infrastructure to care for rising populations.
Additionally, large urban areas are a more likely center of disease epidemics,
allowing contagious diseases to quickly infect densely populated areas.
• Healthcare workforce shortages – As the need for healthcare services increases,
the demand for physicians, surgical staff, nurses, caregivers, and medical labora-
B. Farahani et al.
11.6.7 Design Automation Challenges .............................................. 537
11.6.8 Data Management ............................................................ 538
11.6.9 Context Awareness ........................................................... 538
11.6.10 Availability and Reliability................................................... 539
11.6.11 Data Transmission ............................................................ 539
11.6.12 Security and Privacy .......................................................... 540
11.7 Case Study: Collaborative Machine Learning-Driven Healthcare Internet of Things 541
11.8 Summary ................................................................................. 543
References ........................................................................................ 544
11.1 Modern Healthcare Challenges
Many parts of the world are facing significant healthcare challenges to manage the
rapidly increasing aging population, people with chronic issues, disease epidemics,
child mortality, poor living conditions with lack of sanitation, lack of clean water,
and rising pollution. While the need for medical care has increased over the last
several years, the traditional hospital-centric model of care requiring patients to visit
a physician when sick is still the norm. Managing chronic conditions requires that
patients visit a clinic or hospital so that a physician may monitor disease progression
and adjust treatment based on clinical observations. Generally, hospitals are based
on a reactive, physician-and-disease-centered model that does not include patients
as active participants in the medical process. The main obstacles and challenges
faced by hospital-centered healthcare practices are listed below [1, 2].
• Time and perspective limitations – Because the number of people dealing with
illness or disabling conditions continues to grow, physicians are unable to
spend significant quality time with patients. Shorter exam times leave physicians
with less perspective into the patient’s daily life including diet, sleep, physical
activity, social interactions, etc. Understanding all of these aspects is important
in appropriately diagnosing and treating patients effectively.
• Adherence monitoring – Physicians are often ill-equipped to monitor patient
compliance with prescribed treatments such as rehabilitative exercise, medication, or dietary restrictions. Non-compliance with treatment can increase the
risk of future hospitalization which increases a patient’s healthcare cost and the
economic burden [3].
• Increasing geriatric population – The number of older adults (60+ years)
worldwide is anticipated to grow by more than 200%, from 841 million people
in 2013 to over 2 billion people by 2050; therefore, additional medical facilities
and healthcare resources will be required to treat a larger geriatric population [1].
• Urbanization – The world health organization (WHO) forecasted that by 2015,
70% of the global population would live in urban areas, implying that large cities
would require greater healthcare infrastructure to care for rising populations.
Additionally, large urban areas are a more likely center of disease epidemics,
allowing contagious diseases to quickly infect densely populated areas.
• Healthcare workforce shortages – As the need for healthcare services increases,
the demand for physicians, surgical staff, nurses, caregivers, and medical labora-