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A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal
BACKGROUND: The Internet and telecommunications technologies contribute to national health care system infrastructures and extend global health care services markets. The Cuban national health care system offers a model to show how a national information portal can contribute to system integration,...
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Formato: | Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Gunther Eysenbach
2006
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1550691/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16585025 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8.1.e1 |
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author | Séror, Ann C |
author_facet | Séror, Ann C |
author_sort | Séror, Ann C |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The Internet and telecommunications technologies contribute to national health care system infrastructures and extend global health care services markets. The Cuban national health care system offers a model to show how a national information portal can contribute to system integration, including research, education, and service delivery as well as international trade in products and services. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the context of the Cuban national health care system since the revolution in 1959, (2) to identify virtual institutional infrastructures of the system associated with the Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal (INFOMED), and (3) to show how they contribute to Cuban trade in international health care service markets. METHODS: Qualitative case research methods were used to identify the integrated virtual infrastructure of INFOMED and to show how it reflects socialist ideology. Virtual institutional infrastructures include electronic medical and information services and the structure of national networks linking such services. RESULTS: Analysis of INFOMED infrastructures shows integration of health care information, research, and education as well as the interface between Cuban national information networks and the global Internet. System control mechanisms include horizontal integration and coordination through virtual institutions linked through INFOMED, and vertical control through the Ministry of Public Health and the government hierarchy. Telecommunications technology serves as a foundation for a dual market structure differentiating domestic services from international trade. CONCLUSIONS: INFOMED is a model of interest for integrating health care information, research, education, and services. The virtual infrastructures linked through INFOMED support the diffusion of Cuban health care products and services in global markets. Transferability of this model is contingent upon ideology and interpretation of values such as individual intellectual property and confidentiality of individual health information. Future research should focus on examination of these issues and their consequences for global markets in health care. |
format | Text |
id | pubmed-1550691 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2006 |
publisher | Gunther Eysenbach |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-15506912006-10-13 A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal Séror, Ann C J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: The Internet and telecommunications technologies contribute to national health care system infrastructures and extend global health care services markets. The Cuban national health care system offers a model to show how a national information portal can contribute to system integration, including research, education, and service delivery as well as international trade in products and services. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this paper are (1) to present the context of the Cuban national health care system since the revolution in 1959, (2) to identify virtual institutional infrastructures of the system associated with the Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal (INFOMED), and (3) to show how they contribute to Cuban trade in international health care service markets. METHODS: Qualitative case research methods were used to identify the integrated virtual infrastructure of INFOMED and to show how it reflects socialist ideology. Virtual institutional infrastructures include electronic medical and information services and the structure of national networks linking such services. RESULTS: Analysis of INFOMED infrastructures shows integration of health care information, research, and education as well as the interface between Cuban national information networks and the global Internet. System control mechanisms include horizontal integration and coordination through virtual institutions linked through INFOMED, and vertical control through the Ministry of Public Health and the government hierarchy. Telecommunications technology serves as a foundation for a dual market structure differentiating domestic services from international trade. CONCLUSIONS: INFOMED is a model of interest for integrating health care information, research, education, and services. The virtual infrastructures linked through INFOMED support the diffusion of Cuban health care products and services in global markets. Transferability of this model is contingent upon ideology and interpretation of values such as individual intellectual property and confidentiality of individual health information. Future research should focus on examination of these issues and their consequences for global markets in health care. Gunther Eysenbach 2006-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC1550691/ /pubmed/16585025 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8.1.e1 Text en © Ann C Séror. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 27.1.2006. Except where otherwise noted, articles published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, including full bibliographic details and the URL (see "please cite as" above), and this statement is included. |
spellingShingle | Original Paper Séror, Ann C A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title | A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title_full | A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title_fullStr | A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title_full_unstemmed | A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title_short | A Case Analysis of INFOMED: The Cuban National Health Care Telecommunications Network and Portal |
title_sort | case analysis of infomed: the cuban national health care telecommunications network and portal |
topic | Original Paper |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1550691/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16585025 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/jmir.8.1.e1 |
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