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Interoperability in eHealth

Special Session Call for papers

European member states are facing common challenges associated with ageing societies, increasing levels of chronic diseases, and financial strain on social security organizations. It is therefore not surprising that Member States are directing their health policies to subscribe increasingly to the paradigm of common visions, values, and vehicles. They endorse strongly the notion of patient-centred and citizen-centred services, and patient empowerment in the health domain. At the same time medicine is getting more and more information-based, relevant for both patients and health care professionals. Over the past 10 years the vision for eHealth has shifted from regional and system level concepts to a closer focus on the individual. eHealth has an excellent potential to enable improving quality of care, supporting prevention policies, containing costs and hence can have a major impact on growth in the EU. This is also an area of opportunities for strengthening European competitiveness.

Recent developments in information and communications technology (ICT) systems and services in different Member States have resulted in a proliferation of incompatible ICT formats and standards in healthcare institutions. The resulting lack of interoperability (the ability to 'talk to each other') between health ICT systems and services in different regions and Member States has been identified as a major obstacle to the widespread take-up of eHealth applications in the EU. eHealth Interoperability is a means to contribute to the goal of seamless flow of information between interoperable healthcare systems in order to satisfy clinical and/or administrative purposes and for the benefit of the patients.

The special session intends to explore and investigate eHealth interoperability in Europe addressing the basic components (identification, security, legal, organizational, technical and semantic interoperability), the current challenges, directions, and recommendations, and to present an eHealth interoperability framework. Interoperable eHealth systems and services include benefits for all European citizens and health professionals in the immediate local and/or regional setting in which they live and work; funding agencies; health insurers; and members of the European healthcare information technology (IT) industry, for which a more homogeneous eHealth market could be the result. Indeed, eHealth as a specific domain forms part of a wider Information Society approach that is oriented towards eGovernment and ePublic Services, and new forms of services based on public-private partnerships.

Chairs

Dimitris Koutsouris

Professor, Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Short Bio

He was born in Serres, Greece in 1955. He received his Diploma in Electrical Engineering in 1978 (Greece), DEA in Biomechanics in 1979 (France), Doctorat in Genie Biologie Medicale (France), Doctorat d' Etat in Biomedical Engineering 1984 (France). Since 1986 he was research associate on the USC (Los Angeles), Renè Dèscartes (Paris) and Assoc. Professor at the Dept. of Electrical & Computers Engineering of National Technical University of Athens. He is currently Professor and head of the Biomedical Engineering Laboratory. He has published over 100 research articles and book chapters and more than 150 conference communications. He has been the former elected president of the Hellenic Society of Biomedical Technology. Prof. D. Koutsouris has been principal investigator in many European and National Research programs, especially in the field of Telematics in Healthcare.

Assistant Professor, Department of Digital Systems, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece

Short Bio

She was born in Sydney, Australia. She received her Diploma degree in Computer Engineering and Information Sciences and her M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Patras, Greece, and her Ph.D degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In 1997, she joined the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems of National Technical University of Athens (ICCS-NTUA), Athens, Greece, as a senior Research Scientist until 2008. She is currently Assistant Professor at the Department of Digital Systems of the University of Piraeus. She has published more than 65 scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals, book chapters and conference proceedings. Ass. Prof. Prentza has been very active in many European and National R&D programs, especially in the field of ICT applications in healthcare. She serves as expert evaluator and reviewer for the European Commission (EC) and national programmes. She is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece.

Contacts