Rationale for a Community Strategy in the Field of Information and Communications Technologies Applied to Health Care^[*]

Abstract

The challenge for Europe in the field of information and communications technologies applied to health care is that of addressing positively the problem of the widening gap between the expectations of the citizens of the type of care that can be made available and the limited resources to provide that care. If the expectations of the population are to be fulfilled, it will be necessary to find innovative ways of delivering health services and to do it more efficiently than has yet been the case. Advanced information and communications technologies will be important tools for Member States to achieve the levels of efficiency required. Based on the results of the Community AIM Exploratory Action, further collaborative work is required at EEC level to create an Integrated Health Information Environment (lHE) allowing essentially for integration, modularity and security.

Key-Words

Communication Technology - Health Care - Integrated Health Environment - Medical Informatics - Medical Electronics - Safety - Quality - Efficiency - Standardization

^* This paper corresponds to the Executive Summary of the “Medical Informatics Review” (MIR), carried out for Directorate XIII-F of the Commission of the European Communities under contract by a team of European consultants. It outlines the key issues for the orientation of the work of sector actors in the framework of the Community AIM programme (Advanced Informatics in Medicine). The full report is available on request to the Directorate XIII-F of the Commission of the European Communities. It consists of four Volumes, providing Impact Assessment and Forecasts of the significant issues seen as governing the evolution of advanced information systems for health care and medicine in Europe (see also [1-3]).

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