Intermediaries in eHealth Education

Abstract

As in other industry-related fields, information technology and business are becoming intertwined in health care. This has changed the field profoundly, including the way people work, communicate and conduct their everyday affairs. This change is ongoing, and the future of health care and technology is unknown. However, one thing is certain: this change calls for new kinds of professionals who are able to work in a field that has become multifaceted and convoluted, and able to meet the changing requirements of the eHealth industry. In the following, the focus is on industry-oriented eHealth education, how it can be enabled in the context of higher education in Finland and what kind of intermediary roles are needed. The results are based on a practically oriented pilot in which new forms of industry-oriented education were examined and put into practice.