Reports

REPORT: Putting eHealth in its European Legal Context

In: eHealthNes.eu
16 Apr 2008

The 1960s and 1970s saw the development of computing technology for mathematical modeling applied to the healthcare setting, along with highly specialized, tailor-made programmes for complex medical models. The early 1990s saw the beginnings of the IT revolution, which took us from the back roads to the super highway. With the development of Internet technology, eHealth became a potential reality not only for healthcare practitioners but for every citizen.

It was, however, not until the late 1990s that layers and administrators began to question the extent to which existing legislation was suffi cient to cover the use of eHealth tools in the provision of healthcare to citizens. Over the past decade, a number of articles, reports, and studies have established that the use of ICTs in healthcare does raise a number of legal questions, but few have looked, in detail, at the extent to which European legislation could provide good answers.

The Legally eHealth Report, therefore, seeks to examine some keys of the legal questions raised by the adoption of eHealth tools in healthcare. It looks at how EU legislation on data protection, product and services liability, and trade and competition law applies.
(read more...)

Survey: Do European Residents Use the Internet To Find Health Information?

From the "Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine"
Source: iHealthBeat 
Date: 2 Nov 2007 

The number of European residents who reported using the Internet to find health information increased from 44% in 2005 to 54% in 2007, according to a survey by the Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine. Overall Internet use in Europe increased from 71% in 2005 to 83% in 2007. The countries in Northern and Central Europe reported the highest percentage of Internet health users. In 2007, 72% of survey respondents in Denmark said they use the Internet to search for health information, while 67% of survey respondents in Norway and 57% of survey respondents in Germany said they use the Internet to search for health information.

In Eastern Europe, 47% of survey respondents in Latvia and 53% of survey respondents in Poland reported using the Internet in 2007 for health information research. Meanwhile, in Southern Europe, 32% of survey respondents in Greece and 38% of survey respondents in Portugal reported using the Internet in 2007 for health purposes.

Results are based on a 2005 telephone survey of 7,934 European residents and a 2007 telephone survey of 7,022 European residents.

Source: Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine

Health Care Unplugged: The Evolving Role of Wireless Technology

Source: iHealth Beat (California Healthcare Foundation magazine)  
Nov 2007
By: Richard Adler, M.B.A.

Wireless technology enables clinicians to monitor patients remotely and give them timely health information, reminders, and support—potentially extending the reach of health care by making it available anywhere, anytime. This report is based on interviews with more than two dozen researchers, clinicians, and application developers, along with a review of a broad range of published papers and articles, Web resources, and other materials. It includes an overview of who is using wireless technology and how it is evolving, as well as the wide variety of wireless health care applications that are already available or under development.

The impact these advances could have on providers, patients, and payers is also explored, as are the difficult issues that must still be resolved. The author concludes that the health care industry's appetite for wireless applications will likely depend more on systemic changes in the way medical services are delivered and reimbursed than the capabilities of the technology itself.

The complete report is available under Document Downloads below.

Document Downloads:
Health Care Unplugged: The Evolving Role of Wireless Technology (Pdf; 382K)

HHS Report: Health IT, Genetic Medicine To Personalize Care

Source: iHealthBeat  Today's News (CHCF)
Date: 20 Sept, 2007

The Department of Health and Human Services report offers a long-term plan for creating more customized treatment for patients, including the use of genetic information and health IT. The report predicts that individualized care will create a new doctor-patient relationship. HHS also said personalized care cannot be realized without interoperable, electronic systems. (Healthcare IT News et al) (read the full announcement....)

Legal eHEALTH Challenges

Source:  ICT for eHealth http://www.ehealthnews.eu/content/view/618/62/
Date:  2 July, 2007

There are a number of examples in the health area on which Member States cannot act alone effectively and where cooperative action at the EU level is indispensable, especially regarding issues with a cross-border dimension or relating to the free movement of persons within the internal EU market. Both existing and emerging disparities in Member States' legislation and case-law concerning healthcare impair the development of cross-border services and produce distortions of competition.

Differences exist across Member States on the local, regional and national level in terms of per capita spending on and inputs to healthcare systems. Member States try their best to improve those systems as well as they can.  Lack of financial resources is not the only problem. Quality, accessibility and sustainability of care are also limited because best practices are not shared.

In line with the eHealth Action Plan the Commission will issue a Recommendation on eHealth interoperability in 2007, addressing the core eHealth infrastructure data (patient summary, emergency data set). It is expected that the ongoing Commission's Health Services Initiative will equally cover cross-border healthcare services which move electronically.

Download "Legal Challenges in eHealth - eHealth facilitates access to Europe-wide healthcare" [ ICT for Health Unit (eHealth) Publication (.pdf, 1,1 MB) ]

Report on the State of Developing Electronic Patient Summaries in European Union Member States and Beyond 

Source:  ehealthnews.eu
Date: 22 June, 2007

The Report analyses the current state of developing electronic patient summaries in European Union Member States and beyond. It highlights the benefits of such summaries and also the difficulties that need to be overcome to make use of patient summaries in different countries. Patient Summaries are a key component for eHealth roadmaps in several countries.

The concept of a Patient Summary is not yet universal and fixed, and thus the features of the summaries largely depend on the eHealth programme in which they are embedded. The overall scenarios for deployment of Patient Summaries depend on strategic decisions in each national and regional jurisdiction, which influence the format and the usage of clinical documents.

Besides Patient Summaries, most eHealth programmes also involve various kinds of clinical documents in electronic formats, such as prescriptions and diagnostic reports. A precondition for the success of patient summaries is the deployment of suitable infrastructures to identify citizens and professionals, to make available repositories and registries for the management of clinical documents across healthcare facilities, and to apply confidentiality measures.

All results will consecutively be made available at the eHealth ERA website (www.ehealth-era.org).  The report is the outcome of research in the context of eHealth ERA, which is implemented by empirica GmbH (co-ordinating partner, Germany), STAKES (Finland), CITTRU (Poland), ISC III (Spain), CNR (Italy) and EPSRC (United Kingdom), based on a Coordination Action contract with the European Commission.

Read the eHealth ERA Report at :
"Analysis of the situation of electronic patient summaries in European Union Member States and beyond" ( eHealth ERA Report, pdf, 308 KB)

Bringing new IT skills to the NHS

Source:  "eHealthInsider - Education" (http://ehieurope.com)
Date: 16 May 2007

The NHS is implementing new computer systems at an unprecedented rate. Some support is available from system suppliers but the NHS must ensure that the systems are fully supported on an on-going basis.

More NHS staff than ever before are required to have technical skills which they can apply to computer systems used for the provision of healthcare. These health informatics staff are becoming as vital to the NHS as their clinical and administrative colleagues. By providing up to date, accurate clinical information about the condition and treatment of a patient, better care can be provided and outcomes improved. (read more....)

(Report) Health Information Technology: Are Long Term Care Providers Ready?

Source: iHealthtBeat (CHCF)
Date: April 2007

This Report explores the readiness for Health Information Technology (HIT) from the perspective of California's long term care providers: nursing facilities, residential care facilities, and community-based service providers. Four questions are examined to better understand provider readiness or level of preparedness for HIT:

1. Where do providers think HIT has the most promise to improve care delivery?
2. What is the state of HIT in long term care?
3. How ready are providers to invest, implement, and effectively use HIT?
4. What should providers, policymakers, and community leaders consider as they develop plans to support HIT adoption and use in long term care?

The findings show that the realities of the long term care environment must be taken into account in planning and that they must be addressed during implementation if HIT adoption and use are to be a success. Several next steps are put forth to address identified barriers, make HIT a priority, and increase provider perception of HIT benefits over costs.

The complete Report is available under Document Downloads below.
Health Information Technology: Are Long Term Care Providers Ready? (418K)

IT Tools for Chronic Disease Management: How Do They Measure Up?

Report by: Laura Jantos and Michelle Holmes, ECG Management Consultants, Inc .
July 2006

Chronic disease management systems (CDMS) focus specifically on managing chronic disease and preventive care, while the more comprehensive electronic medical record (EMR) documents the entire patient encounter and provides real-time patient information.

Few, if any, studies, have compared the merits of these two tools, which show potential to reduce costs and improve outcomes for patients with chronic illnesses. “IT Tools for Chronic Disease Management: How Do They Measure Up?” assesses them side by side. (read more....)

Half of Outsourced IT Projects Will Fail

In 2003, half of all information technology projects involving third-party consulting will be considered unsuccessful by executives who oversee them, according to a new report from Gartner, because they fail to deliver expected return on investment or operational value. (more)

• Available for download in adobe acrobat format (.pdf) here
• Source: www.zdnet.com (it papers)
• Date: October 2002