eHealth for Safety - Impact of ICT on Patient Safety and Risk Management
The eHealth for Safety study takes a broad look at the information and communication technology (ICT) tools that can lead to higher quality of care, increased patient safety, and better risk management in health services and healthcare in Europe. It does so through a mix of desk research and provision of empirical evidence. It brings together into this mix the views of leading researchers and practitioners from around the globe from a series of high-level discussions and workshops. 
The ICT for Health Unit of Directorate-General Information Society and Media is in the process of drafting a Recommendation which outlines a set of recommended guidelines for good practice on eHealth interoperability. This draft Recommendation is submitted for informal public consultation.
There are a number of examples in the health area on which Member States cannot act alone effectively and where cooperative action at the EU level is indispensable, especially regarding issues with a cross-border dimension or relating to the free movement of persons within the internal EU market. Both existing and emerging disparities in Member States' legislation and case-law concerning healthcare impair the development of cross-border services and produce distortions of competition.
The report analyses the current state of developing electronic patient summaries in European Union Member States and beyond. It highlights the benefits of such summaries and also the difficulties that need to be overcome to make use of patient summaries in different countries.
This progress report describes the main results of a first year of work since the publication of the eHealth Action Plan: activities undertaken by the European Commission and Member States together.