
	Last update: August 15, 1996

FOREWORD FROM

JEAN-CLAUDE HEALY

HEAD OF THE HEALTH TELEMATICS UNIT

The Fourth Framework Programme (4FP) for Research and Technological Development (RTD) from the European Union (EU) is being implemented, at present, by the Commission.
The "Telematics Applications" specific programme has a diametrically different orientation compared with the previous one: from now on, downstream forces (users) and not upstream (technologies) ones are the drivers. The healthcare telematics applications sector is affected, directly, by this change of culture, which materialises in many ways:

at programme orientation level, the needs of the users (physicians, nurses, specialists, health authorities, health industries.....) prevail;

at programme management level, the activities financed by the European union must lead, ultimately, to products and services which meet the demands of the users and, as such, must become economically viable. Therefore, research projects are oriented more towards action than knowledge;

at individual project level, apart from the importance of the work itself, emphasis is put on setting measurable, objective indicators of usefulness to the health sector, as well as indicators of progress, if not success.

This orientation of the Community Framework Programme is supported by the recent developments arising from the Bangemann report and the advent of the Information Society, where health networks appear well placed amongst the priorities.
These different legal settings allow answers to the questions formulated by Member States. In the health sector, these requests are expressed along major lines: reduction and control of costs, continuity of care, and access to care. These themes correspond to dominant societal challenges and all actors are affected by the re-engineering of the different care systems.
What, then, are the tools needed to satisfy these demands ?
Following the first call for tender in the health telematics sector, more than 250 proposals were received and 70 projects selected for funding. These projects are starting, now, and they will form

the framework supporting Commission activities for the coming years. Clustered around user groups, they should enable the critical mass to take advantage of the industrial development of European health telematics services.
The research and development projects financed under the 4FP are, nevertheless, only one of the available tools. Indeed, the initiatives taken by the EU for supporting the Information Society, the international collaboration initiatives, notably with the Eastern European countries, related to funding the infrastructure for large communications networks, are other tools for intervention and action.
The work ahead is immense and the collaboration of all actors is essential. The whole set of legal, financial and administrative tools, available at present, allow us to envisage a new start for health telematics: great confidence and expectation is placed upon the professionals in these new technologies. It is up to all of us to meet the aspirations not only of health professionals, but also for citizens and above all, patients.


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