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With the growth of the ageing population in Hong Kong, healthcare professionals believe that there will be a great demand of healthcare service at the community level. In 2000, the first prototype of telehealth system was developed, tested and validated by the School of Nursing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. With the advancement of information technology and inexpensive video- conference facility, an inter-clinic patient-centered healthcare information system has been evolved and used by a number of satellite clinics since 2003. In order to foster the importance of personal healthcare education at the community level, different versions of the telehealth system were designed and developed for school children and teenagers. Now the research team is focusing on the development of the pocket PC's version. Experience on the deployment of such technology-intensive system in healthcare was discussed in this paper.

The aim of this research study was to identify an alternative to nasal airflow as a prompt and unobtrusive indicator of sleep apnoea events. This study attempted to select pulse oximetry (SpO2) level as an alternative parameter to indicate the occurrence of sleep apnoea. Ten subjects diagnosed with sleep apnoea underwent an overnight polysomnography (PSG) study. Signals of nasal flow and SpO2 level were recorded. Time differences were compared between the "onset of nasal airflow cessation" (ONAC) and the "onset of three percent oxygen desaturation from the baseline" (OOD) during sleep apnoea events. The results of this study showed that measuring SpO2 level was more comfortable for patients, but that there was around a twenty second delay after the onset of the cessation of nasal airflow. It was concluded that the measurement of SpO2 level was useful for screening suspected sleep apnoea patients, but it might not be able to provide "online detection" of the occurrence of sleep apnoea events.

Since 2002, hospitals have to report to Nursing Service Department, Hospital Authority Head Office on the pressure ulcer trends for risk management in Hong Kong. In line with the strategy, hospitals have designed their own patient observation records and reporting forms for monthly analysis and reporting of in-patient hospital acquired pressure ulcers. The incidence rates of individual hospital and its specialties are then calculated manually or using electronic spread sheets. However, the diversity in data definition and vocabulary use generates difficulties in communication among professionals and hospital managers. The development of the system would help to standardize the requirements and to reduce the time required for generating trends and ulcer information. The system also lays the foundation for future systems integration with the changing information system infrastructure.