Horizons and Perspectives eHealth

EHealth platform represents the combined use of IT technologies and electronic communications in the health field, using data (electronically transmitted, stored and accessed) with a clinical, educational and administrative purpose, both locally and distantly. eHealth has the significant capability to increase the movement in the direction of services centered towards citizens, improving the quality of the medical act, integrating the application of Medical Informatics (Medical IT), Telemedicine, Health Telematics, Telehealth, Biomedical engineering and Bioinformatics. Supporting the creation, development and recognition of a specific eHealth zone, the European Union policies develop through its programs FP6 and FP7, European-scale projects in the medical information technologies (the electronic health cards, online medical care, medical web portals, trans-European nets for medical information, biotechnology, generic instruments and medical technologies for health, ICT mobile systems for remote monitoring). The medical applications like electronic health cards ePrescription, eServices, medical eLearning, eSupervision, eAdministration are integral part of what is the new medical branch-eHealth, being in a continuous expansion due to the support from the global political, financial and medical organizations; the degree of implementation of the eHealth platform varying according to the development level of the communication infrastructure, allocated funds, intensive political priorities and governmental organizations opened to the new IT challenges.eHealth, telemedicine, telehealth, bioinformatics, telematics

Electronic health record standards

Objectives: This paper seeks to provide an overview of the initiatives that are proceeding internationally to develop standards for the exchange of electronic health record (EHR) information between EHR systems.Methods: The paper reviews the clinical and ethico-legal requirements and research background on the representation and communication of EHR data, which primarily originates from Europe through a series of EU funded Health Telematics projects over the post thirteen years. The major concept that underpin the information models and knowledge models are summarised. These provide the requirements and the best evidential basis from which HER communications standards should be developed.Results. The main focus of EHR communications standardisation is presently occurring at a European level, through the Committee for European Normalisation (CEN). The major constructs of the CEN 13606 model ate outlined. Complementary activity is taking place in ISO and in HL7, and some of these efforts are also summarised.Conclusior: There is a strong prospect that a generic EHR interoperability standard can be agreed at a European (and hopefully international) level. Parts of the challenge of EHR i interoperability cannot yet he standardised, because good solutions to the preservation of clinical meaning across heterogeneous systems remain to be explored. Further research and empirical projects are therefore also needed

MOSAIC roadmap for mobile collaborative work related to health and wellbeing.

The objective of the MOSAIC project is to accelerate innovation in Mobile Worker Support Environments. For that purpose MOSAIC develops visions and illustrative scenarios for future collaborative workspaces involving mobile and location-aware working. Analysis of the scenarios is input to the process of road mapping with the purpose of developing strategies for R&D leading to deployment of innovative mobile work technologies and applications across different domains. One of the application domains where MOSAIC is active is health and wellbeing. This paper builds on another paper submitted to this same conference, which presents and discusses health care and wellbeing specific scenarios. The aim is to present an early form of a roadmap for validation

Mobihealth: mobile health services based on body area networks

In this chapter we describe the concept of MobiHealth and the approach developed during the MobiHealth project (MobiHealth, 2002). The concept was to bring together the technologies of Body Area Networks (BANs), wireless broadband communications and wearable medical devices to provide mobile healthcare services for patients and health professionals. These technologies enable remote patient care services such as management of chronic conditions and detection of health emergencies. Because the patient is free to move anywhere whilst wearing the MobiHealth BAN, patient mobility is maximised. The vision is that patients can enjoy enhanced freedom and quality of life through avoidance or reduction of hospital stays. For the health services it means that pressure on overstretched hospital services can be alleviated

The e-Health Development Framework in Spain

Telemedicine and Information Society, Research DivisionThis document sets out to identify the strategic lines, framework for action and status quo. Moreover, it seeks to pinpoint recommendations designed to foster the development of e-health in this country and meet any potential demand in a European context arising from an institutional commitment to lend impetus to the Information Society in Health, in the shape of the «Strategic Initiative for the Development of the Information Society» (Iniciativa estratégica para el Desarrollo de Sociedad de la Información - Info XXI) and the National Research, Development and Innovation Plan (2000-2003).Telemedicine and Information Society, Research Division" Introducción, General, Objetivo y alcance del documento, Justificación, Realización del documento, Contenido, Sobre la e-Salud y su campo de aplicaciones, General, Definiendo la e-Salud, De las infraestructuras a las aplicaciones, El espacio de las aplicaciones de la e-Salud, El marco europeo y el contexto global, La e-Salud en la iniciativa de e-Europa, El contexto global, Escenario de la e-Salud en España, Aspectos generales, Los grandes grupos de usuarios de e-Salud Los consumidores (ciudadanos en general), Los pacientes, Los profesionales sanitarios, Las organizaciones sanitarias, Análisis de situación, Factores impulsores, Barreras, Discusión por categorías de usuarios, Planteando una estrategia de acción en e-Salud, Resumen de situación, Visión del papel de la e-Salud, Perspectivas de evolución. Contexto de desarrollo, Identificación de los temas de fondo Propuesta de actuaciones, General, Elementos de actuación, Medidas Generales, Acciones de Investigación y Desarrollo, Acciones de Formación y Docencia, Acciones de Transferencia de Tecnología e Innovación, Referencias/Bibliografía