EUROPEAN HEALTH TELEMATICS OBSERVATORY ( www.ehto.org )
A “premium Health ICT web-based Platform, since Jan 1996 (launched in Brussels)

EHTO Compliance with
HONCode Certification Principles

1 – Authoritative - The origin and the “raison d'être” of the “European Health Telematics Observatory “ links to the past first years of activity of the newest EC-DGXIII Health Unit, (created in 1990). After 4 years work, and having already achieved the objectives of the 2 first EC- Framework Programme, the European Commission opened a 4 th Call for Proposals. An international consortium (aiming at creating a WEB Site like EHTO definitely was), has submitted its Proposal to the 1995 EC Call for Proposals, aiming at contributing to stop the existing critical fragmentation of all the information produced in Health IT from 1990 to 1994. The proposal was accepted, being classified as an sectoral horizontal “Accompannying Measure”, therefore benefiting from a 100% funding from the EC. The Consortium was formed by well known and reputed experts. It included: * the former expert at DG13-Health Telematics, Mrs. Maria Laires who was the EHTO mentor (PT, the Project Coordinator, Portugal Telecom), * Prof. Georges De Moor (BE, RAMIT), * Mr. Vesa Pakarinnen (FI, VTT), * Mr. José Luis Monteagudo (ES, ISCARLOS III. Madrid ), * Mr. François Grimonpez (FR, CNEH ), * Prof. Georges Anogianakis (GR, BIOTRAST ). Because the EHTO quarterly planned “Journal”, Mr. Mike McCurry ( UK , as the Journal editor), and Mr. Michael Flahive (IL, as its publisher, IHC ), also joined the EHTO Consortium since its very beginning. . .

Not only the fact that the European Commission through its approval and its full funding to the Project, has clearly recognised the competence of the different skills forming the EHTO Consortium, but also because the rapid success of EHTO Portal in the 2 first years of activity, as well as its continuity beyond 1999, and, finally, because all those key issues can be measurable through the following milestones: * still in 1996 rapidly become a recognized “service & product” in the market worldwide - + in 1997, the innovative creation of its Network of 8 NLAS (National Languages Affiliated Sites, in Western and Eastern Europe, and Latin America), + the huge number of Portal visitor along with project Years 1 to 4 , have attained more than 4 Millions, - + more than 355 international Web Sites make a reference to EHTO, - + Virtual Demos were installed in EHTO Web Site for a number of TAP-HT Projects (Telematics Application Programme – Health Telematics), + and also a Virtual Visit” to all the running projects in HT-4th Framework Programme, was offered from the EHTO Web Site to its visitors (this “VV” was installed in January 1998 to show all Health Telematics results at the Barcelona EC-final Conference, March 1998)..

All these achievements not only show but also prove, the highly qualified and innovative work done by “EHTO- European Health Telematics Observatory” , all that thanks to the excellent competencies and know-how existing at the Consortium team. (www.ehto.org)

2 - Complementarity – EHTO - European Health Telematics Observatory ( www.ehto.org ) , was launched in Jan 1996, and aims to select, qualify classify and aggregate all types of information on eHealth related issues, including European co-funded Projects (from the 1 st Framework Programme on), and other relevant EU information, that in order to offer its dissemination worldwide. EHTO is an accurate and friendly-user Web Site, which goal is to become a one-step Platform helping users to rapidly access and become aware of most key Health ICT information. Before the creation of EHTO, and until 1996, the existing Health ICT information was too fragmented across the European Community, therefore being extremely difficult - or even impossible - to know about it, to find it, or to access such information. The Health ICT information in EHTO helps all users, including medical doctors, to become aware of the technological state-of-the-art (Informatics, Communications, Telecommunications) being available in the market, also about the Applications using such ICT tools, also for healthcare provision.

3. Privacy - EHTO does not share information (names, personal information, email addresses) about its users with third-party entities. Where possible, EHTO aims to honour the legal requirements for medical/health information privacy in all countries in which we operate However the EHTO Portal Administrator is not responsible or liable with regard to some aspects regarding the content on this Site, namely: information of a general nature only, and not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity, information not necessarily comprehensive, not complete, neither accurate or up to date. Because EHTO started its activity in January 1996, after being funded 100% by the EC, there is a huge volume of information available to its users from 1996 on, where possibly some of the external links referring to other sites or documents may be are no more active - that without any timely acknowledgement has been sent either to the EHTO webmaster (or to the Administrator). Therefore, EHTO cannot take neither the responsibility for such occurrence, nor to find the responsible people for such inactive web sites. Moreover, EHTO Portal is not responsible for the content of external websites it links to.

4. Attribution – EHTO editorial Policy obliges to respect the following rules: all the information contained on this site should make clear references to its origin (source of data) and, also to the related specific HTML links to that data (where possible).

5. Justifiability – “ Any claims relating to the benefits/performance of a specific treatment,, etc… .” – This principle does not apply to the EHTO content

6. Transparency - EHTO Platform keeps as a most user-friendly Web Site. That condition was the result of direct inquiries sent by the Project Coordinator, Maria Laires , to all the wide EC Community of Health telematics Users in 1996, at the time the structure and the policy for EHTO content was being “designed” . Presently, we still receive many contacts from EU users willing to access documents or information f. ex. being part of the past EC-Projects – because their relevance and opportunity – who demonstrate their appreciation on the quite simple but well organised and classified structure EHTO still keeps nowadays, which enables a rapid access to the information being need.

7. Financial disclosure – Since 1999 on, and following the 4 years Project phase being funded by the EC, EHTO Web Site represents a personal Health ICT web based Platform, co-founded, redesigned, implemented and promoted by its CEO, Maria Laires , who is also responsible by its current funding.

8. Advertising policy- In this present work-phase, EHTO Web Site does not display any commercial advertisements. Currently, references are made to other 2 Institutions because their close interaction with EHTO. Owing to that, there are two banners referring to the HON Foundation, and to the EAHIT Association, respectively - which should not be considered as “advertisements”, because there are no payments involved. Clearly, EHTO has not yet entered its next work phase (when commercial advertising, will correspond to funding).

We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health
information: