by Michael Lehmann (ed.), Kerstin Denecke (ed.), Murat Sariyar (ed.), Serge Bignens (ed.), Erwin Zetz (ed.), Jürgen Holm (ed.)

Imagining the healthcare of the future is an interesting exercise, and although nobody can predict precisely what systems might operate in ten year’s time, the possibilities which already exist can give us a clue as to how healthcare may be managed by 2030.

This book presents papers from the conference Healthcare of the Future, held in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland, on 5 April 2019. The conference reflects some of the results of a two year multi-stakeholder Swiss research program in medical informatics. The research program, which began in 2016, saw 25 stakeholders cooperating for an integrated cross-sectoral treatment pathway with the goal of avoiding communication gaps and information loss among the different participants within the treatment process. The principal goals were to improve and accelerate healthcare processes and empower the patient to play an active and decisive role within their own care process. The project highlighted interaction between caregivers, patients and healthcare institutions based on modern information technology. Topics covered are divided into 4 sections: workflows in healthcare; how does eHealth change the care process; knowledge based IT support; and eHealth and the informed patient, and the book also includes the keynote conference speech on improving the hospital-patient relationship with digital communication.

The book will be of interest to all those involved in healthcare whose aim is to improve and accelerate healthcare processes and empower patients to play a more active and decisive role in their own care.