Background:
ICT development has led to the
emergence of virtual organizations phenomenon. Virtual hospital is one of these
virtual organizations which present digital version of services and information
of a hospital. In scientific literature, the term “virtual hospital” covers
other concepts as well as the concept of a hospital. The study aimed at analyzing
conceptual and practical evolution of virtual hospital. Considering these
purpose different documents of the 1950s were reviewed and categorized under
four conceptual terms. Practically, we related some actions to each term, as
well.
Methods:
This study was conducted as a
review of articles collected from PubMed, Web of Sciences and Google Scholar
databases.
Findings:
Definitions of virtual hospital
were differed from time to time. There is also different experience of
implemented virtual hospitals in different countries. The first virtual
hospital refers to the medical digital library to provide telemedicine
services, in which then was named a virtual medical university. In the first
decade of the 21st century, virtual hospital as a three-dimensional
environment based on virtual reality emerged. Of those countries which adopted
this technology were Germany, United Kingdom, United States, New Zealand, China
and Singapore.
Conclusion:
By advancing
virtual reality techniques and development of Nano-electronics, we will be
witnesses of production of advanced “point of care systems" with a kind of
interaction between patients and physicians in a way that they feel they are
really in a real hospital with possibility of track and care of patients instead
real hospitalization
