VoIP based Telehomecare Application Kiosk

Healthcare services and systems throughout the world are in trouble and the proportion of expenditures devoted to healthcare is increasing rapidly. In addition to that, an increasing number of citizens is dissatisfied with the health services they receive and worry about the ability of the system to provide universally accessible care. One possibility to help to solve these problems is the adoption of Telehomecare for different health service scenarios. Telehomecare allows patients to remain at home as caregivers monitor them regularly using easy-to-use Telehomecare equipment. This ensures high-quality care, gives the patient more insight into his/her medical condition and enables caregivers to notice critical conditions and problems early. This paper presents the design and implementation of a modular Telehomecare system based on the Cisco IP Telephony Solution. It supports it's choices of platform and features by discussing how Telehomecare can help to solve some of the healthcare system issues, by evaluating existing Telehomecare systems and by looking at different Voice-over-IP enabled implementation platforms. The implemented Telehomecare system includes components for regular monitoring, instant communication, emergency situations as well as for supporting healthcare institutions at different administration tasks.