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Towards a wireless patient: Chronic illness, scarce care and technological innovation in the United Kingdom

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  • May, Carl
  • Finch, Tracy
  • Mair, Frances
  • Mort, Maggie

Abstract

'Modernization' is a key health policy objective in the UK. It extends across a range of public service delivery and organizational contexts, and also means there are radical changes in perspective on professional behaviour and practice. New information and communications technologies have been seen as one of the key mechanisms by which these changes can be engendered. In particular, massive investment in information technologies promises the rapid distribution and deployment of patient-centred information across internal organizational boundaries. While the National Health Service (NHS) sits on the edge of a £6billion investment in electronic patient records, other technologies find their status as innovative vehicles for professional behaviour change and service delivery in question. In this paper, we consider the ways that telemedicine and telehealthcare systems have been constructed first as a field of technological innovation, and more recently, as management solutions to problems around the distribution of health care. We use NHS responses to chronic illness as a medium for understanding these shifts. In particular, we draw attention to the shifting definitions of 'innovation' and to the ways that these shifts define a move away from notions of technological advance towards management control.

Suggested Citation

  • May, Carl & Finch, Tracy & Mair, Frances & Mort, Maggie, 2005. "Towards a wireless patient: Chronic illness, scarce care and technological innovation in the United Kingdom," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(7), pages 1485-1494, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:7:p:1485-1494
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. May, Carl & Ellis, Nicola T., 2001. "When protocols fail: technical evaluation, biomedical knowledge, and the social production of 'facts' about a telemedicine clinic," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(8), pages 989-1002, October.
    2. May, Carl & Gask, Linda & Atkinson, Theresa & Ellis, Nicola & Mair, Frances & Esmail, Aneez, 2001. "Resisting and promoting new technologies in clinical practice: the case of telepsychiatry," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(12), pages 1889-1901, June.
    3. May, Carl & Mort, Maggie & Williams, Tracy & Mair, Frances & Gask, Linda, 2003. "Health technology assessment in its local contexts: studies of telehealthcare," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 697-710, August.
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    1. Dedding, Christine & van Doorn, Roesja & Winkler, Lex & Reis, Ria, 2011. "How will e-health affect patient participation in the clinic? A review of e-health studies and the current evidence for changes in the relationship between medical professionals and patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(1), pages 49-53, January.
    2. May, Carl & Rapley, Tim & Moreira, Tiago & Finch, Tracy & Heaven, Ben, 2006. "Technogovernance: Evidence, subjectivity, and the clinical encounter in primary care medicine," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 1022-1030, February.
    3. Rogers, Anne & Kirk, Sue & Gately, Claire & May, Carl R. & Finch, Tracy, 2011. "Established users and the making of telecare work in long term condition management: Implications for health policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(7), pages 1077-1084, April.
    4. Bruni, Attila & Miele, Francesco & Piras, Enrico Maria, 2019. "‘Homemade’: Building, mending, and coordinating a care network," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 237(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Trondsen, Marianne V. & Tjora, Aksel & Broom, Alex & Scambler, Graham, 2018. "The symbolic affordances of a video-mediated gaze in emergency psychiatry," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 87-94.

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