Overview
Introduction
Our mission is to promote research and development of a novel integration system in which pieces of patients’ healthcare information are virtually combined and stored separately in diverse medical/healthcare facilities. Recently developed mobile information communication technologies (ICT)—in conjunction with cloud computing—provide a sturdy environment in which to build a “virtual ubiquitous health information space.” We particularly focus on better clinical outcomes in various medical/healthcare fields, as well as the efficacy, safety, and security achieved by these innovative systems.
Research Activities
We have been working on the specific projects since this department was established in 2009; our systems have reached the stage of clinical validation. Furthermore, we are collaborating in research with several laboratories both inside and outside the campus, seeking further frontier fields in interdisciplinary research and practical medicine/healthcare fields. Through development of these specific systems, we also aim to establish a systematic methodology for creating solutions for virtual ubiquitous health information space.
Future Directions
We will continue development and validation of the projects we have been working on, focusing particularly on those aspects that affect clinical efficacy—which, at least in part, has already been proven in practice. In addition to questions of health care in our university hospital outpatient/ward, we will undertake joint research projects to examine various other models of health care, such as community and home health care. Our goal is to develop a cyberspace that satisfies not only medical professionals’ needs but also patients’ needs; we will move onto establishing virtual cyberspace—telehealth space—supported by medical informatics and clinical medicine.