Microservices, A Dynamic Response for Accelerating the Assessment of Patient-Centric E-health Solutions

Nowadays healthcare systems are undoubtedly relying on digital technology to support, improve and deliver medical services. The unceasing emerging of more performant technologies, together with the increased access to information, have led not only to enhanced healthcare delivery, but also to the augmented empowerment and awareness of the patients regarding the relationship with their healthcare providers, shifting that towards a partnership. In this context, the patient-centric feature of eHealth solutions has strengthened and become imperative. Therefore, microservices, a relatively recent approach in software architecture, have been more and more chosen to accelerate the assessment of this category of solutions. Their particular characteristics drive to improvements in terms of efficiency, scalability, composability, resiliency, or flexibility of the developed eHealth solutions. Not least, microservices facilitate a real customization of the functions and capabilities of eHealth applications. This paper aims to emphasize the main aspects related to microservices and their closed link with patient-centric eHealth solutions. The added value brought by microservices in this area is endorsed by the brief presentation of RO-SmartAgeing system, which main objective is to framework a remote monitoring in a smart environment in order to allow an elderly person to continue his life with dignity in a familiar space, while receiving the best health surveillance, treatment and physical support. RO-SmartAgeing system is currently developed by the author together of a team from ICI-Bucharest; as it is in the general architecture design phase, the involved developers aim to take advantage of the opportunities provided by microservices in order to lend it well-defined features like scalability and flexibility to make it age-friendly and customizable.