Despite improvements in healthcare IT infrastructures, a gap remains in the ability of these systems to deliver knowledge and insight back to the researchers, clinicians and patients they are intended to support. EURECA, a new European project, aims to close this gap by building software solutions to improve interoperability among existing data systems, such as clinical trials and electronic health record systems. 
HIMSS Europe today delivered its annual Leadership award to Steiner Pedersen, MD, a Norwegian internationally renowned IT health professional "for having created Europe's first Research and Development Centre for Telemedicine and for making Tromsø,Norway the centre for development of Telemedicine." 
Daintel, a provider of software solutions developed specifically to specialist hospital departments was awarded the 2012 EU SME eHealth Competition first prize. Daintel has achieved a 50% market share in Denmark in just 18 months, and now the company is focused on expanding to other European markets. 
A high-level group of experts today warned that Europeans will only be able to benefit from the affordable, less intrusive and more personalised healthcare which Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) can bring if agreement is reached on how to use health data. 
Denmark, England and Scotland have been pioneers in the use of electronic communication in and across the health and social care sectors. The three pioneers have been able to integrate telehealth into standard patient treatments, according to a new study from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (IPTS).