WRITTEN QUESTION P-0056/01

by Carlos Coelho (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 January 2001)

Subject: e-Europe 2002 Action Plan: on-line health care

The Feira Council adopted the e-Europe 2002 Action Plan which, despite its limited scope, represents a means of improving the health of the EU's population.

Would the Commission therefore provide all available information regarding the action plan and the stage reached in the process of making the electronic medical register compatible in the various EU countries - something which will assist the movement of persons and information in the health sector?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(3 September 2001)

The eEurope 2002 Action Plan - Health Online recognises that the first action towards exploitation of the power of information technologies in the health sector is the implementation of an infrastructure. Such infrastructure, which necessarily includes electronic medical records, should provide user friendly, validated and interoperable systems for medical care, disease prevention, and health education through national and regional networks which connect citizens, practitioners and authorities on.

The development of health telematics tools, including electronic medical records has been a key objective of the Community Research and Technological Development (RTD) programmes. For more than 10 years of RTD Programmes (Advanced Informatics in Medicine (AIM), TAP (Telematics Applications Programme (TAP) and Information Society Technologies (IST)) have funded electronic medical records research, resulting in a wide range of European applications and standards supported through the European committee for standardisation (CEN) TC 251. Such applications are now fully implementable and Community level initiatives continue to promote harmonised, high quality electronic health records across the Community, in particular through the activities of the various national PROREC organisations (http://www.sadiel.es/Europa/Prorec/default.htm).

However, it should be noted that policy development and legislation on the implementation of electronic medical records lies within the competency of individual Member States.

In order to assist Member States in reaching the eEurope 2002 Action Plan - Health Online stated target of ensuring that primary and secondary care providers have the necessary health informatics infrastructure in place, Health Online sets out four further actions.

Best practices in eHealth will be identified and disseminated, in order to assist purchasing departments in decision-making. In particular a call for best Practice Actions was launched under the Information society technology (IST) Programme on 27 January 2001.

A set of quality criteria for health web sites will be developed to boost consumer confidence in use of such sites and foster best practice in the development of sites. Working meeting on this matter will be held with Member State Representative and other key actors in during 2001.

A series of data networks will be established to assist with informed healthcare planning in Member States. Such networks are being developed under the activities of the European Union Public Health Information Network (Euphin).

A communication on legal aspects of ehealth will be drafted in the fourth quarter of 2001 which will clarify which existing legislation has an impact on eHealth.