The Impact of eHealth on the Quality & Safety of Healthcare

- Of particular international interest is the deployment of eHealth applications - that is the use of information technology in healthcare contexts - with a view to improving the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare.

- Whilst these eHealth technologies have considerable potential to aid professionals in delivering healthcare, the use of these new technologies may also introduce significant new unanticipated risks to patients.

- Also of concern is that even when high quality interventions are developed, they frequently fail to live up to their potential when deployed in the "real world"; a major factor contributing to this paradox is professional resistance to the introduction and use of poorly designed applications.

- Given that the NHS is now committed to the largest eHealth-based modernisation programme in the world, it is appropriate and timely to critically review the international eHealth literature with a view to identifying lessons that can usefully be learnt with respect to the future development, design, deployment and evaluation of eHealth applications.

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List of authors:

• Dr Chantelle Anandan, Research Fellow
  Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section
  University of Edinburgh
• Ashly D. Black, Research Assistant
  eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine
  Imperial College London
• Dr Josip Car, Director of eHealth Unit
  eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine
  Imperial College London
• Kathrin Cresswell, Research Associate
  Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section
  University of Edinburgh
• Professor Azeem Majeed, Professor of Primary Care and Head of Department
  Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine
  Imperial College London
• Dr Brian McKinstry, Clinical Senior Research Fellow
  Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section
  University of Edinburgh
• Dr Claudia Pagliari, Senior Lecturer in Primary Care and Chair of eHealth Group
  Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section
  University of Edinburgh
• Professor Rob Procter, Currently on Secondment as Research Director
  National Centre for e-Social Science, Manchester
  School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh
• Professor Aziz Sheikh, Professor of Primary Care Research & Development
  Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section
  University of Edinburgh

Correspondence to:
Professor Aziz Sheikh, Professor of Primary Care Research & Development, Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh, 20 West Richmond Street Edinburgh EH8 9DX

For further information, please visit:

• Research in Primary Care, Division of Community Health Sciences: GP Section, University of Edinburgh
• eHealth Unit, Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine Imperial College London