European Commission sets out plans for electronic health services
Plans for making better use of information technology in health care have been published by the European Commission. They bear a remarkable resemblance to those currently being implemented in the NHS.
The plans, to be implemented in three-stages, call on EU member states
to establish schemes for e-health services and to introduce online health
information services by 2005. NHS Direct Online has been used by the
EC as an example of what can be done.
The second stage, to be achieved by 2006, is to have electronic patient
identification systems in an advanced stage of development so that different
parts of the health care community can communicate with each other and
exchange and read each other’s patient data.
In the final stage, health information networks are expected to be commonplace,
with services being delivered over fixed and wireless broadband networks.
This should be achieved by 2008.
David Byrne, European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection,
said: “Patients will benefit from the use of information and communication
technologies in health care. With the adoption of the e-health action
plan yet another element is in place to address the many issues that
confront health services throughout the EU.”
Mr Byrne expected to meet EU health ministers at a ministerial conference
on
e-health in Cork, Ireland, on 6 May to discuss ways to make the most
of technology to improve the quality, availability and effectiveness
of care in Europe. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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