Studies, Feasibility Studies, etc.

Assessing Progress Towards an Interoperable European eHealth Space

Fostering the development and implementation of national eHealth policies and strategies has been a key goal of the European Union (EU) eHealth Action Plan of 2004. To review progress made and analyse the results so far obtained by EU Member States, the European Commission just before Christmas signed a contract with Bonn-based eHealth specialist empirica.
"We are more than happy that we won this prestigious project in a competitive tender, which will update part of the very comprehensive survey work undertaken earlier by the so-called eHealth ERA project" said Dr. Veli Stroetmann, senior research fellow with empirica Communication and Technology Research, who is a principal investigator for this new work. Some key results of that earlier study were summarised in the EU report on "eHealth priorities and strategies in European countries".

The objectives of the new study are to measure and assess Union Member States eHealth progress:

• whether national eHealth policies, strategies, roadmaps and/or implementation measures exist and have been updated;
• whether and to what extent the objectives defined in the European eHealth Action plan have been incorporated into them;
• what progress has been achieved, focusing on eHealth Action Plan priorities;
• which (further) national priorities and actions may support the accelerated realisation of the eHealth Action Plan.

The final output, expected during the middle of 2010, will involve a comprehensive progress report with country briefs and policy recommendations on Member States eHealth policy progress towards an interoperable European eHealth space.
Special advisor to the study and contributor will be Prof. Denis Protti of the University of Victoria, Canada, a global expert on the comparative analysis of national and regional eHealth implementations. Contributing partners are the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL, the former STAKES), and European law firm Time.Lex CVBA as well as further expert institutes in all the more than 30 countries to be covered by this extensive research.

About “empirica”
“empirica Gesellschaft für Kommunikations- und Technologieforschung mbH” (empirica) has many years of experience in quantitative and qualitative research methods. Its clients are private companies and public bodies: large and medium-sized companies in the insurance, pharmaceutical and automobile industries as well as software developers and hardware manufacturers. There are also telecommunications service companies and network providers, social services firms, medical facilities, Federal and State Government ministries in Germany and the European Commission as well as the European statistical office (Eurostat).

eHealth in Action - Good Practice in European Countries

“Good eHealth Report”, January 2009.

“Good eHealth - Exchange of Good Practices in eHealth” - is a three-year study (2006-2008) funded under the former “Modinis” programme by the Directorate-General Information Society and Media. This report presents case studies from 30 European countries for which validated information was available to the project by the end of November 2008. This information reflects the situation of the cases at the date of delivery to the project by national correspondents during the time period 2006-2008.
The objectives of this study were to:

• 1 - identify good practices and their associated benefits

• 2 - develop and implement proven approaches to wider dissemination and transfer real-life experiences

• 3 - stimulate accelerated take-up of eHealth by addressing common implementation challenges and lessons learned.

The report is the outcome of research in the context of the “Good eHealth” Project, implemented in cooperation between “Deloitte” Belgium and “empirica - Communication and Technology Research” Germany. The Good eHealth project is commissioned by the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, ICT for Health Unit.

Download eHealth in Action Good Practice in European Countries Report (.pdf, 2.280 KB).
For further information, please visit:
http://www.good-ehealth.org/

Survey: How Will Hospitals' Health IT Budgets Change in 2009?

Source:   iHealthBeat  News    (a service of California Healthcare Foundation)  
(www.ihealthbeat.org/ )
26 February 2009      

 DATA POINTS


Seventy-one percent of hospitals surveyed said they expected budget allocations for IT to be smaller in 2009, according to a survey conducted by Healthcare Informatics Research Series. The survey was commissioned by NCR, a global technology company.
Twenty-six percent of hospitals surveyed said they do not expect a change in budget allocations for IT in 2009, while 3% of hospitals predicted that their IT budgets would be larger in 2009. 
The survey also found that 36% of hospitals surveyed are being more cautious about their IT spending because of the economy.
Meanwhile, 19% of hospitals surveyed said they have postponed some IT purchases, and 16% said they have postponed all non-essential IT projects. In addition, 14% of hospitals report a slow down in IT implementation.
Results are based on online interviews with 435 health care providers conducted from Nov. 25, 2008, to Dec. 4, 2008.

READ:  "The Economy's Impact on Healthcare IT Spending" (.pdf)

Commissioned Study and Final Report on “eHealth in Action: Good Practice in European Countries”

Source: InfSo & Media News on Good eHealth Project
Feb 2009

“Good eHealth - Exchange of Good Practices in eHealth” - is a three-year study (2006-2008) funded under the former Modinis programme by the Directorate-General Information Society and Media. The commissioned Study covered 30 European countries for which validated information was available to the project by the end of November 2008. The Report reflects the situation of the cases at the date of delivery to the project by national correspondents during the time period 2006-2008.
The main objectives pursued along the Study are to:

• identify good practices and their associated benefits
• develop and implement proven approaches to wider dissemination and transfer real-life experiences
• stimulate accelerated take-up of eHealth by addressing common implementation challenges and lessons learned

The Report presents the final outcome of research in the context of the “Good eHealth project”, and it was implemented in cooperation between “Deloitte-Belgium” and “empirica -Communication and Technology Research, Germany”.
The “Good eHealth” project is funded by the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, ICT for Health Unit.

Download
eHealth in Action Good Practice in European Countries Report (.pdf, 2.280 KB).

EC Study: Robotics for Healthcare (Final Report)

Study funded by the European Commission - INFSO
19 Dec 2008

For the last two decades the European Commission (EC), and in particular the Directorate General Information Society and Media, has been strongly supporting the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in healthcare. ICT is an enabling technology which can provide various solutions in the healthcare sector, ranging from electronic patient records and health information networks to intelligent prosthetics and robotised surgery. The EC funded the present study with the aim to investigate the potential of robotics in healthcare.  Robotics for healthcare is an emerging field which is expected to grow in the face of demographic change (ageing), expected shortages of healthcare personnel, calls for improving quality of life for the elderly and disabled, and the need for even higher quality care, for example high precision surgery. All these factors stimulate innovation in the domain of Robotics for Healthcare. Several programs and networks dedicated to research on robotics are already focusing part of their efforts on applications in healthcare.

The main aim of this study is to provide key research policy recommendations for the application of robotics in healthcare. Another objective of the study is to raise awareness about these important new developments among a wider audience. To this extent, a roadmap of promising applications of robotics in healthcare and associated R&D was developed, taking into account the state of the art as well as short and long-term future possibilities with a time horizon ending in 2025.

Download Robotics for Healthcare Final Report (.pdf, 2.980 KB).

“ICT'ae” Journal on Information and Communication Technologies for the Advanced Enterprise

A new international journal

Call for Papers
http://www.ict4ae.org
submission deadline: March 31, 2009
Inaugural issue: July 2009

------------

Dear Sirs,

It is our great pleasure to invite you to consider submitting, within the guides in below, to the inaugural issue of ICT'ae - Information and Communication Technology for the Advanced Enterprise : an international journal .

ICT'ae is a fully refereed journal and will publish only original papers (originality in theory, technical advancement or application), technical reports, case studies and book reviews.

At the end of this message you will find the composition of the Editorial Board, and of the Editorial Review Board.

Coverage and Scope

Today's business environment is impelling organizational models to shift into the so-called Advanced Enterprises. These emerging models require suitable information systems, electronic business support, electronic commerce, communication technologies, etc.

ICT'ae intends to promote, discuss and disseminate the utilization and advancements of Information Technologies and Systems and ICT within these advanced organizational models.

The journal is targeted to both an academic audience (teachers, researchers and students, mainly of post-graduate studies), IS/IT professionals (IS managers and IT specialists,) and high-level managers.

Recommended topics include, but are not limited, to the following ones:

-  IT-based supporting environments and organizations
-  Net-enhanced organization
-  Enterprise Resources Management (ERP)
-  ERP and SRM in public sector
-  Supplier relationship management (SRM)
-  Customer relationship management (CRM)
-  Logistics information systems
-  Supply chain and demand chain management
-  ICT in support of the Advanced Enterprise Energy Efficiency
-  e-Commerce and collaborative commerce
-  e-Business
-  Collaborative product design and development
-  Production and operations systems
-  Knowledge management
-  Collaborative work technologies, tools and management
-  Data mining and business intelligence
-  Decision support and knowledge-based systems
-  Trust and Legal aspects
-  Privacy and IPR
-  Security
-  Analysis tools
-  Business mobile technologies
-  Semantic technologies
-  Technologies and standards
-  Information integration
-  interoperability and interoperability testing
-  IT governance
-  IT outsourcing
-  Information systems management
-  Change management enabled by ICT
-  ICT/IT/IS and business strategic alignment
-  ICT supported accounting, finance, marketing, design, production in advanced organizational models
-  Human-computer interfaces
-  Case studies and surveys in the public and private sectors

Submission Guidelines and Paper Format

(For all the detailed information, please visit http://www.ict4ae.org)

Submissions are to be permanently open, except for the first issue, for which will only be considered submissions received until March 31, 2009.

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief ( editor@ict4ae.org )

Kind regards,
Manuela Cunha  (mcunha@ipca.pt)
(editor-in-chief)
Polytechnic Institute of Cavado and Ave
Portugal

(read more…)

Improving Hospital patient care through fixed and wireless LAN technologies

Rui J. M. M. C. Gomes – rui@gomes.com
CIO, Hospital S. Sebastião – Sta. Maria da Feira, Portugal,
CINTESIS-Medical School University, Porto, Portugal
Friday, March 21, 2008

1. The Situation

The last ten years has seen a rapid increase in the quantity of technology used in healthcare environments. A small number of Hospitals today would live on without a data network in place for communication and sharing resources for clinical and business applications for Hospital management.

Nevertheless, many Hospitals are finding that their existing technology can no longer support daily activities. Hospital de São Sebastião in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal acknowledged for its continual innovation, delivers high quality care to a community of 360,000 inhabitants with about 400 beds and 1500 employees.

This institution has a recognized commitment to quality, respect for the individual, teamwork and performance and what concerns costumer needs the Hospital wanted that his health professionals to have anytime access to high-bandwidth medical images and data, no matter where they were located inside or abroad. As soon as the Hospital were aware that secure wired and wireless access around the area could enable much faster and improved medical care with collaborative medical applications, decided to increased the network bandwidth to have the capacity to allow both this and other critical activities to take place at the same time.

2. The solution

To deliver and implement a wired and wireless gigabit Ethernet network, across the organization, the Hospital decided for a reputable supplier, like Nortel Networks, to help and transform communications  in the long term since there was a believe that this provider could offered one of the safest transitions to the most reliable technology available on the market. The reliable business continuity plan required for a modern Hospital network is delivered now by a highly robust switched cluster based on the Routing Switch Nortel 8600. The clustering technology ensures active resilience and no single point-of-failure, thereby protecting the Hospital's existing and future investment in critical applications and services. (read more…)

"Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and
E-Health"

"Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health" was published On August 2008, the Medical Information Science Reference has published the new handbook of Dr. Athina A. Lazakidou, from University of Piraeus, in Greece, with the title: "Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health" (575 pages).

The new handbook provides comprehensive coverage of the most important issues, concepts, new trends, and advanced technologies in healthcare. This enhanced resource of over 35 articles from 84 international experts contributes, represents a compendium of terms, definitions, and explanations for academicians and health professionals worldwide .

The handbook Brochure is available at:   "Lazakidou_handbook_Aug2008.pdf"

For contacting Dr. Athina A. Lazakidou:
University of Piraeus
Karaoli & Dimitriou Str. 80
GR-18534, Piraeus
GREECE
Tel:  +30-210-414 24 24
Fax: +30-210-414 27 53
URL: http://freenet-homepage.de/lazakid/

Handbook of Research on Developments in e-Health and Telemedicine: Technological and Social Perspectives
(2nd Call for contributions)

A book edited by: M. Manuela Cunha, Antonio Tavares and Ricardo Simões
Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal (http://ehealth_and_telemedicine.ipca.pt)

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to the "Handbook of Research on Developments in e-Health and Telemedicine: Technological and Social Perspectives" within your field of expertise related to the handbook topics.
The mission and overall objectives of this book are described at  "Hand Book eHealth&Telemedicine- Tech and Social Perspectives" . You are, however, not limited to these topics.  Please feel free to add any topics that you think are critical issues in e-Health and Telemedicine. Should you accept this invitation, we kindly request that, on or before July 10, 2008, you submit via e-mail a one/two page chapter proposal clearly explaining the mission and concerns of the proposed chapter.
Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by July 20, 2008 about the status of their proposals and will be sent chapter organization guidelines. Upon acceptance of your proposal, you will have until October 15, 2008, to prepare your chapter of 8,000-10,000 words and 7-10 related terms and their appropriate definitions.  Guidelines for preparing your paper and terms and definitions will be sent to you upon acceptance of your proposal. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-blind review basis.
The book is scheduled to be published in 2010 by IGI Reference (http://www.igi-global.com), publisher of the Information Science Reference (formerly Idea Group Reference) and Medical Information Science Reference.

Submissions: should be forwarded electronically (Word document as attachment) to ehealth.and.telemedicine@gmail.com
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the editors:  ehealth.and.telemedicine@gmail.com . 

We appreciate your consideration of this invitation and hope to hear from you soon!
Kind regards,  
Maria Manuela Cunha ( mcunha@ipca.pt ); Antonio Tavares ( ajtavares@ipca.pt ) ; & Ricardo Simões ( rsimoes@ipca.pt )

Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave / School of Technology
UrbanizaçãoQuinta da Formiga - 4750 Barcelos
Portugal
Tel.:  (+351) 253 802 260      Fax:  (+351) 253 812 461

"Economic impact of interoperable electronic health records and ePrescription in Europe"

The study is carried out by "Empirica" for the European Commission, DG Information Society and Media, Unit H1: ICT for Health
Obs : the "EHR IMPACT" Study should be viewed as closely linking to the EC- Empirica Study "FINANCING eHEALTH"

Source: EHR IMPACT Study Web Site -  http://www.ehr-impact.eu/index.htm
15 May 2008

• The "EHR IMPACT" Study has started in the 1st of January 2008, and its ending date is 31 December 2008.
• Key dates relating to the EHR IMPACT work are as follows:  

May 2008:  The case study of the computerised clinical information system at the University Hospitals in Geneva (HUG) , Switzerland, was presented at the European Union Ministerial Conference on eHealth 2008 in Portorož, Slovenia. Findings from the "Financing eHealth" and EHR IMPACT studies were illustrated on the basis of HUGs experience. The discussion focused on insights of strategic eHealth investment decisions , as well as the costs and benefits associated with complex, interoperable electronic health record (EHR) systems. The presentation material is available on the EHR IMPACT Study website:  www.ehr-impact.eu.

April 2008: First findings of the EHR IMPACT study will be presented next month at the European Union Ministerial Conference on eHealth 2008 in Portorož, Slovenia. The case study of the computerised patient record system at the University Hospitals in Geneva, Switzerland will be used as an example to illustrate the benefits, as well as lessons learnt for future investments in interoperable EHR and ePrescribing systems. The session will be shared with the Financing eHealth study, which focuses on the investment aspects of eHealth.

March 2008: The EHR IMPACT study team currently finalised the conceptual framework of the study, developing and adapting the eHealth IMPACT methodology. The goal is the evaluation of the socio-economic impact of eHealth in the specific setting of interoperable electronic health record and ePrescribing systems. The first two evaluations have started. These are the computerised patient record system at the University Hospitals in Geneva, (Switzerland), and the Scottish Emergency Care Summary Programme, in the UK.

• About

• Context
• Goals
• Approach
• Administrative details
• Study team
• Downloads
• Links

Assessment of financing opportunities available to Member States to support and boost investment in eHealth (2007-08)

The study's overall aim is to support the specific action outlined in the eHealth action plan of supporting, boosting, and leveraging investment in eHealth. The study will shed light on the options available to Member States, and the solutions that exist to face their common challenges.

• Monthly Focus - April 2008
• Preliminary Observations - draft report
• Study website:  http://www.financing-ehealth.eu/

Study on exchange of good practices in eHealth (2006-08)

“ The Good eHealth study ” aims to advance the implementation of a comprehensive and continuous approach to dissemination and transfer of learning experiences. The study team will seek to identify the benefits deriving from specific good practice examples, to develop stronger approaches to sharing good practices, and to stimulate faster uptake of new eHealth systems and services.

• Monthly Focus - February 2008
• Study website
• Factsheet on the study

EC- Commissioned ICT Current Studies on eHealth issues  (FP7)

• Economic Impact of Interoperable Electronic Health Records and ePrescription in Europe

• Requirements and options for actions in RFID in healthcare

• Legal framework of Interoperable eHealth in Europe

• Best Practices in Europe on "ICT enabled independent living for elderly" (2007-08)

This study will support the objectives in the Commission's i2010 Communication “A European Information Society for Growth and Employment”, by identifying examples of ICTs being used to improve the elderly's quality of life. Its findings are intended to lead to further Commission initiatives in this field.

Call closed - 2006/S 153-164777
Complete Information   (Invitation to tender, Tender Specifications, Template Service Contract, FAQ)

• Roadmap for application of robotics in medicine and healthcare (2007-08)

The objective is to produce a roadmap of promising healthcare robotics applications, which encompasses the associated technologies, research directions and expected impact. The roadmap will assess the current, short-term (five-year horizon) and long-term (15-year horizon) situations regarding user requirements and expectations for robotic applications in healthcare. Based on these, the roadmap will propose relevant research topics as well as challenges worth exploring in the ICT theme of the Seventh Research Framework Programme. Furthermore, the roadmap will present clearly the short-term and long-term outcomes and benefits that could be achieved in healthcare.

• Assessment of financing opportunities available to Member States to support and boost investment in eHealth (2007-08)

The study's overall aim is to support the specific action outlined in the eHealth action plan of supporting, boosting, and leveraging investment in eHealth. The study will shed light on the options available to Member States, and the solutions that exist to face their common challenges.

Study on exchange of good practices in eHealth (2006-08)

The Good eHealth study aims to advance the implementation of a comprehensive and continuous approach to dissemination and transfer of learning experiences. The study team will seek to identify the benefits deriving from specific good practice examples, to develop stronger approaches to sharing good practices, and to stimulate faster uptake of new eHealth systems and services.

EC- Infso ICT Completed studies on eHealth issues (FP6)

• Impact of ICT on Patient Safety and Risk Management – eHealth for Safety (2006-07)

This study looked at how ICT applications can improve patient safety and risk management in healthcare. Based on a review of tools currently in use and research on their use, the study team show that eHealth can help prevent medical errors, initiate rapid responses to any event, and track events, should they occur, as well as provide feedback to learn from them. The study concludes with recommendations for concrete steps in research and development to improve patient safety and risk management in healthcare, using ICT tools and services.

• Study on patient identity in eHealth (2006-07)

This study outlined a common approach to “patient identifiers” in Europe, taking account of best practices and developments in areas, such as the European Health Insurance Card and identity management for European citizens. The study team developed a strategy to achieve interoperability between existing eHealth and health systems, rather than creating a completely new system; a proposal on approaching the issue of patient identifiers at European level; and a model of the “patient identification process” in different countries.

• Study on legal and regulatory requirements of eHealth (2006-07)

The study addressed the need to establish greater legal certainly in Europe with respect to the practice of eHealth service delivery and the use of eHealth tools within the existing legal framework of relevant EU legislation. A baseline report has yet to be provided on existing EU legislation, its impact on the delivery of eHealth and an analysis of the legal lacunae that may exist.

• eHealth impact study (2005-06)

This study sought to improve understanding of the economic impact of eHealth, which policy-makers believe to be a major barrier to wider uptake of new systems and tools. The lack of knowledge in this area required the study team to develop generic measurement and assessment methods. After seeking a wide selection of case studies from across Europe, the team applied their methods to the eHealth tools in use in ten separate places. The project's methodology and related tools are now available on-line, and can therefore be used for assessments elsewhere.

US - CIOs 2008 Survey Results Predict Future Trends

Source:  HealthData Mangement
May 2008

Health care CIOs and other I.T. executives are optimistic about the growth of real-time claims adjudication as well as clinical decision support, the Health Data Management 2008 CIO Survey shows. The full results of the survey are displayed below.

The survey, e-mailed to a sample of Health Data Management's subscribers, attracted 90 participants. Respondents included CIOs and other I.T. executives at hospitals, integrated delivery systems and group practices. The survey was co-sponsored by Quammen Group, an Orlando, Fla.-based consulting firm. To learn more about the company, visit the Web site at www.quammengroup.com.

The survey garnered interesting feedback about personal health records, electronic records certification and other recent I.T. issues and trends affecting the marketplace. The survey also found that even in an economy trending toward recession, the vast majority of health care organizations expect their information technology budgets to grow during the next fiscal year, and this growth is driven primarily by a need to improve access to information for clinicians, the survey shows.

Some 81% of respondents said their I.T. budgets will grow, with the most common prediction being growth of 5% to 10%. Implementing electronic health records was the No. 1 software investment priority for the coming year for hospitals, integrated delivery systems and group practices alike, the survey shows.

See the Survey final Graphics

Handbook of Research on Biocomputation and Biomedical Informatics: Case Studies & Applications

Call for Chapters

Editor: Athina A. Lazakidou, Ph.D, University of Piraeus, Greece

Mar 2008

The "Handbook of Research on Biocomputation and Biomedical Informatics: Case Studies and Applications" will provide a compendium of terms, definitions and explanations of concepts, processes and acronyms.

Additionally, this volume will feature chapters (6,000-10,000 words) authored by leading experts offering an in-depth description of key terms and concepts related to different areas, issues and trends in various areas of Biocomputation and Biomedical Informatics Applications

Recommended topics include, but are not limited to, are the following :

• Biocomputation, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Technologies

• Software environments for Biocomputation, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Applications

• Bioimaging and Biosensing Applications

• Bioinformatics Applications (e.g Molecular Medicine, Microbial Genome Applications, Gene Therapy, etc)

• Biocomputation and Knowledge Management in Drug Discovery and Developmens

• Key Aspects, Components and Applications of Systems Biology

• Biocomputation and Nanotechnology for Personalized Medicine

• Data and Knowledge Mining in Biomedical Research

• Modelling and Simulation in Biomedical Research

• Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health Applications

• Telemedicine Applications

• Educational Applications

• Any Other Computer Application in Biomedicine, Health Care and Medicine

All information about the upcoming handbook, could be found at the following link:  http://freenet-homepage.de/lazakid/handbook/

Please read the content of the Call for Chapters.

Athina Lazakidou

1st Annual HIMSS EMEA Leadership Survey

Source: HIMSS ( http://emea.himss.org ) 
Date: 10 January 2008

The Annual HIMSS Leadership Survey has a strong tradition of reporting on the opinions of information technology (IT) executives from healthcare provider organisations across the U.S. regarding the use of IT in their organisations.For the first time, HIMSS EMEA is turning this same focus across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reporting on the information communications and technology (ICT) issues that are relevant to senior healthcare management in this region.

The study was designed to collect information about IT priorities, technology adoption, application usage and other crucial factors in the use of IT to enhance healthcare. Results obtained from respondents from : Finland  |  Italy  |  Spain  |  Switzerland

This Final Report was sponsored by Cisco

And it was supporterd by the following organisations: :
C2C  •   European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL)  •   European Federation of Medical Informatics (EFMI) •  FinnWell/Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation )   •  HL7 Spain  •  SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund  •  (SSMI) Swiss Society for Medical Informatics

About HIMSS EMEA - Transforming Healthcare Through IT
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., Brussels, and other locations across the United States and Europe, HIMSS represents more than 20,000 individual members and over 300 corporate members that collectively represent organizations employing millions of people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) Inspections – Good Clinical Practice

“The Sector draws on the expertise of member states' inspectorates for the fulfilment of many of its GCP related tasks. This is primarily achieved through the GCP Inspectors Working Group”.  A new Document of Interest has been posted in this EMEA website area.

This document references the CDISC eSource Data Interchange initiative.
( http://www.cdisc.org/eSDI/eSDI.pdf )

The Draft Reflection Paper on Expectations for Electronic Source Documents used in Clinical Trials is now available ( click here )

This document has been released for consultation until 31 April 2008 and can be found at the following EMEA links.
http://www.emea.europa.eu/Inspections/GCPInspmtg.html and
http://www.emea.europa.eu/Inspections/WhatsNew.html

Doctor Motivation Influences Degree of EHR Adoption
A new study in the American Journal of Medical Quality

Source:  iHealthBeat  (California Healthcare Foundation)
By:  Kate Ackerman,  iHealthBeat Associate Editor
October 09, 2007

Today's electronic health records have more available functions to protect patients and control costs than EHRs of a decade ago, but a new study indicates that early adopters are more likely than newcomers to deploy that technology.

Health IT insiders disagree on the attainability of President Bush's goal for most U.S. residents to have electronic health records by 2014. Numerous studies have assessed the state of EHR adoption in the U.S., but the findings vary significantly depending on how the studies define both "EHRs" and "adoption."

A new study in the American Journal of Medical Quality suggests that more focus should be given to the type -- not the number -- of EHR systems that are being adopted. The study, called "Incomplete EHR Adoption: Late Uptake of Patient Safety and Cost Control Functions," found that Florida physicians who recently adopted EHR systems were more likely than early adopters to use incomplete systems that lack key patient-safety and cost-control functions.

The study noted that by failing to account for partial adoption scenarios, policymakers potentially could threaten achievement of their goal to use health IT to boost clinical outcomes, increase patient safety and control costs. (read more....) 

pdf file (723Kb)

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Submission Deadline: September 15, 2007

A book edited by

Wayne Pease, University of Southern Queensland , Australia ,

Prof. Malcolm Cooper, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University , Japan , and Assoc. Professor Raj Gururajan, University of Southern Queensland , Australia .

Introduction

E-Health describes the application of information and communications technologies (ICT) across the whole range of functions that affect the health sector, from the doctor to the hospital manager, via nurses, data processing specialists, social security administrators and - of course - the patients. E-Health is one of the most rapidly growing areas in health today. However, limited systematic research has been carried out to inform e-Health policy and practice. The internet and other developments in e-Health are playing increasing roles in consumer health behaviour, and in the delivery of health services.
(more...)

"Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health"

Editors: Athina A. Lazakidou, Ph.D and Konstantinos M. Siassiakos, Ph.D, University of Piraeus, Greece

CALL FOR CHAPTERS

Coverage: The Handbook of Research on Distributed Medical Informatics and E-Health will provide a compendium of terms, definitions and explanations of concepts, processes and acronyms. Additionally, this volume will feature chapters (5,000-7,500 words) authored by leading experts offering an in-depth description of key terms and concepts related to different areas, issues and trends in various areas of Distributed Medical Informatics, E-Health and M-Health.

To access the BOOK Structure: click here

We advise you also to visit the following web site:
http://freenet-homepage.de/lazakid/handbook/

Many Thanks,
Athina Lazakidou & Konstantinos Siassiakos
[Editors]

This Book is the first more encompassing presentation of  what this takes. 

(....) The Book identifies a number of organizational problems, and designs solutions to those problems (....) If one really mean business about telemedicine's future, telemedicine should now enter a new stage (....)  Simple enthusiasm should be replaced by sweat and work.  Work with organizations (....) It is not the technology that decides its own future.....  Still humans decide the future of telemedicine.(....) 

The author:  IH Monrad Aas  ( m onrad.aas@piv.no  )

Work Research Institute - WRI - Oslo, Norway. 

EHTO link for the book (pdf)
Web link for the book (pdf)   

Study: Clients Transitioning From Inpatient Rehabilitation to ComplexContinuing Care or Home

Source:  Canadian Institute for Health Information - CIHI ( www.cihi.ca/  )
Date: 18 April 2007

New analysis from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) shows that while 82% of patients leaving an Ontario rehabilitation facility were discharged home, 2% were discharged to a complex continuing care facility. The study Clients Transitioning From Inpatient Rehabilitation to Complex Continuing Care or Home offers a demographic and clinical profile of these patients, in an effort to help inform decisions regarding resource allocation, admission criteria and discharge planning for inpatient rehabilitation. (more...)

Published past studies on eHealth issues (2005-2007)

· Impact of ICT on Patient Safety and Risk Management – eHealth for Safety (2006-07)

November 2007

This study looked at how ICT applications can improve patient safety and risk management in healthcare. Based on a review of tools currently in use and research on their use, the study team show that eHealth can help prevent medical errors, initiate rapid responses to any event, and track events, should they occur, as well as provide feedback to learn from them. The study concludes with recommendations for concrete steps in research and development to improve patient safety and risk management in healthcare, using ICT tools and services.

• Final report (October 2007)
• Factsheet on the study

· Study on legal and regulatory requirements of eHealth (2006-07)

The study addressed the need to establish greater legal certainly in Europe with respect to the practice of eHealth service delivery and the use of eHealth tools within the existing legal framework of relevant EU legislation. A baseline report has yet to be provided on existing EU legislation, its impact on the delivery of eHealth and an analysis of the legal lacunae that may exist.

• Factsheet on the study
• ‘ Project of the month ' article on the study
• Report not yet available

· Study on Patient Identity in eHealth (2006-07)

This study outlined a common approach to “patient identifiers” in Europe, taking account of best practices and developments in areas, such as the European Health Insurance Card and identity management for European citizens. The study team developed a strategy to achieve interoperability between existing eHealth and health systems, rather than creating a completely new system; a proposal on approaching the issue of patient identifiers at European level; and a model of the “patient identification process” in different countries.

• Factsheet on the study
• Report not yet available

· eHealth Impact Study (2005-06)

This study sought to improve understanding of the economic impact of eHealth, which policy-makers believe to be a major barrier to wider uptake of new systems and tools. The lack of knowledge in this area required the study team to develop generic measurement and assessment methods. After seeking a wide selection of case studies from across Europe, the team applied their methods to the eHealth tools in use in ten separate places. The project's methodology and related tools are now available on-line, and can therefore be used for assessments elsewhere.

• Final report (September 2006)
• Summary of the ten case studies
• eHealth impact project website
• Project leaflet
• Factsheet on the study
• ICT Results article on the project and PDF version

Regional Public Health Platforms - an International Collaboration

• Available for download in MS Word format (.doc) here