8. System Integration Issues for Next-Generation Remote Healthcare System

The system integration is always a terrible headache for IT technologists. Several aspects are related to a proper integration of different components and services into remote healthcare solution. Furthermore the overall integration issue cannot be regarded only from a technical point of view but it has to take into account aspects such as deployment scenario, service organization, educational and business context, resource sharing with other services. The system integration is a crucial activity and requires to be properly planned, it is based on system and service architecture design however it must be empowered taking into account use case and deployment scenario, functional and technical specification and interoperability requirements with other services. Due to the variety and complexity of system integration, in this chapter only some of the major issues related to system integration are taken into account; in particular the authors have selected the following main issues: system integration topics checklist; the interoperability and portability of data as one of the crucial aspects enabling system integration and proper deployment of solutions into the healthcare domain; structured approach for solution deployment; the user interface design as basic aspect to engage the medical professionals. Finally the critical issues are raised breaking down the lessons learnt.