Design Criteria for Large eHealth Infrastructure System

Abstract

We live in a time where ubiquitous access to information is part of our daily lives. Most of us use the Internet for sending or receiving information every day. We store data about our daily lives and thanks to social networks, we are able to stay in contact with other people even easier than before. Interestingly one of the most important aspects in our private lives has not yet made the jump into the digital world: our health. While every doctor’s office, hospital and insurer keeps a specific set of information about the progress of their patients’ health, the patient itself rarely has the possibility to either read or contribute this set of information. In addition these piles of health information are completely disjoint. This means, that whenever a patient visits a physician, this patient himor herself has to update the doctor about all the medical events that have happened since the last visit. For the patient, this is not necessarily an easy task. Not only is it very difficult for the average the patient to remember what happened when, but it is also very difficult for a layman to articulate these facts correctly. This is where eHealth comes into play. EHealth infrastructures, when done properly, can help to aggregate data, provide the right information to the right people and most importantly give control about health related information back to the patient. EHealth itself is not a technology per se, but a collection of tools and technologies, which combine healthcare topics with computer technologies. These tools include telemedicine, electronic health records, electronic medical records, computer aided diagnosis, hospital information systems and many more. When talking about large health infrastructures, usually regional, national or international eHealth networks and systems are meant (Eysenbach, 2001). The most common goals of large eHealth projects include a personal health record (PHR), confirmation of a patient’s insurance status and electronic medication. Electronic medication in particular has the potential to positively affect daily health care. Not only does eMedication reduce paper work for health care providers (HCP), pharmacies and insurers, but also allows a streamlined process for preventing accidental prescription of medications with a negative cross interaction. Planning eHealth strategies for healthcare providers or a nationwide healthcare system is one of the most critical aspects when starting programs or initiatives for eHealth and