The health sector holds an important place in our societies, as evidenced by funds appropriated to it, the role the state plays, and the large number of associated parties with various functions that it connects. Because medical advances have resulted in increased life expectancies, and because citizens are being actively encouraged to take personal responsibility for their health, the number of people in need of medical care has increased.
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New Zealand Health Technology Excellence - Delivered to the World
The health system in New Zealand is based on the fundamental philosophy that healthcare should be provided to those who need it, when they need it. With a strong focus on primary care, New Zealand's health sector is internationally recognised as a provider of high quality, trusted services that are delivered cost-effectively.
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Universal Health Identifiers: Issues and Requirements for Successful Patient Information Exchange
Lorraine Fernandes, RHIA
Scott Schumacher, PhD
The healthcare industry is moving toward a future where the electronic exchange of health data will be commonplace. As we enter this new world, there is an increased need to accurately identify an individual across jurisdictions or care-settings so that healthcare providers have a solid foundation for sharing patient health information and providing safer, more cost effective treatment.
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Why Do Evaluations of eHealth Programs Fail? An Alternative Set of Guiding Principles
Much has been written about why electronic health (eHealth) initiatives fail. Less attention has been paid to why evaluations of such initiatives fail to deliver the insights expected of them. PLoS Medicine has published three papers offering a "robust" and "scientific" approach to eHealth evaluation. One recommended systematically addressing each part of a "chain of reasoning", at the centre of which was the program's goals. Another proposed a quasi-experimental step-wedge design, in which late adopters of eHealth innovations serve as controls for early adopters.
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The European Files: The Telemedicine Challenge in Europe
The aim of this special edition of "The European Files" is to help take stock of the development of telemedicine, in all its diverse forms, and in a range of different environments. It is a collection of accounts and analyses by political and industrial decision-makers, patients and professional healthcare representatives, who seem to be best-placed to communicate messages that are both brief and easily understandable to all audiences.
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Interoperable eHealth is Worth it - Securing Benefits from Electronic Health Records and ePrescribing
The EHR IMPACT study was commissioned by the European Commission, Directorate General Information Society and Media,Unit ICT for Health,and comprises of nine quantitative and two qualitative independent evaluations of good practice cases of interoperable electronic health record (EHR) and ePrescribing systems in Europe and beyond. The goal of the study is to inform and support ongoing initiatives and implementation work by the European Commission,Member State governments, private investors, and other actors.
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A Healthy Approach - Technology for Personalised, Preventative Healthcare
ICT Research: The Policy Perspective
In this report produced for the publication series ICT Research: The Policy Perspective, we discover how information and communication technology (ICT) is revolutionising healthcare across Europe. Technology gives patients choice and control, while practitioners make more informed diagnoses and decisions. As research continues, citizens can expect to see their quality of life improve.
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