MoCoHe™ 2008 - Call For Papers

The First International Workshop on Mobile Collaborations for Hospital-based Health Care - MoCoHe™ 2008 is an integral part of the 10th @WAS International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications & Services (iiWAS2008) which will be held inconjunction with the 6th @WAS International Conference on Advances in Mobile Computing and Multimedia (MoMM2008) on 24-26 November 2008 in Linz, Austria.

Download the MoCoHe™ 2008 Call For Papers (CFP) [pdf, 24kb ].

MoCoHe™ 2008 Background and Goals

Clinical workers in a hospital ward are, by the very nature of their work, mobile.  The information that nurses, doctors and other health professionals need in their daily working life however is not always readily mobile. Detailed patient records, for instance, are usually accessed via a workstation connected to a database.

The past few years have seen the emergence of research that incorporates medicine, IT and communications studies, investigating the possible ways in which ubiquitous computing can address this problem. For example, mobile computers such as PDAs and laptops on trolleys can enable clinical staff to access information and electronically record information while moving from one location to another, permitting access to a hospital database via a wireless connection.

However, there remains the open question of how and when to use ubiquitous computing for ward data management. The use of a mobile wireless infrastructure can lead to security and reliability problems. Mobile devices often have usability problems that can only be solved by technological innovation. Current best practice workflow can be disrupted by the introduction of automated electronic solutions. There are interoperability issues for nomadic clinicians who need context aware, always available connections.

There are several international events that concern healthcare management, ubiquitous and mobile work and dependability of systems. However, while these events occasionally involve some overlap of areas, there does not currently exist a forum for discussing the essential convergence of the areas, nor in bringing together practitioner and academic perspectives. An important objective of the MoCoHe™ workshop is to bring together academics working in information systems and organisational systems; academics working in communication theory and device dependability; and healthcare workers interested in developing better ward management systems. The time is ripe to bring together this combination of expertise, because the research community is evolving and hospital-based healthcare is moving towards adopting mobile technologies.

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Topics of Interest

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

1. Enhancing and improving, rather than disrupting and dictating, current healthcare workflow.
   This topic concerns usability and workplace communication issues that arise from the deployment of mobile solutions. It involves examination of how technologies can enhance or disrupt information management at the organisational and architectural level.
2. Dependability and trustworthiness of ubiquitous and mobile devices.
   This theme involves the application of computer science theories of dependability to provide guarantees for required quality of service levels
3. Data integration across different health service settings.
   Electronic health records form an integral part of the modern hospital. Other emerging areas of electronic health management include wider integrated networks of records and online health. An important technical and social problem is how data should be integrated between these arenas.
4. Technological innovation and interoperation.
   Many devices, from handheld computers to ward monitoring equipment, can now be integrated into a single interoperable framework due to innovations in wireless and Bluetooth. This theme will examine how these innovations can be integrated to increase access to health services, improve cost effectiveness, enhance educational opportunities, improve health outcomes, provide better quality of care and enhance social support.

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Submission of Papers

We encourage submission of high quality papers to the MoCoHe™ 2008 Workshop. Authors of accepted papers must guarantee that their works will be presented at the MoCoHe™ 2008 Workshop by one of the co-authors. Only full papers in English will be accepted. The length of the paper should not exceed 10 pages (5000 words). Instructions for preparing the manuscript (in Word and Latex format) are available at the iiWAS web site. Submission of the manuscript can made via www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mocohe2008. All manuscripts will be peer reviewed and accepted manuscripts will be published by Oesterreichische Computer Gesellschaft (OCG) (Austrian Computer Society) http://www.ocg.at/.

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Important Dates

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Program

[to be announced]

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Program Committee

(currently in development)

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Chairs

Dr Maria Indrawan, Co-Chair
Caulfield School of Information Technology
Monash University, Australia

Dr Chris Ling, Co-Chair
Caulfield School of Information Technology
Monash University, Australia

Dr Linda Dawson, Co-Chair
Caulfield School of Information Technology
Monash University, Australia

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Contacts

Dr Maria Indrawan , MoCoHe™ 2008 Workshop Co-Chair
Caulfield School of Information Technology
Monash University
Caulfield East, Victoria, 3145, Australia
Email: maria.indrawan@infotech.monash.edu.au

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MoCoHe™ 2008 Sponsors

Mobile Health Research Group™